A New Project to Improve Food Safety in Potato Chips Manufacture
Abertay University and Perthshire-based Taylors Snacks have launched a new project to improve food safety in potato chip manufacture.
The research’s findings, which center on reducing acrylamide, will help the entire sector as it strives to fulfill the most recent guidelines that the European Commission (EC) will set later this year. Acrylamide is a natural chemical molecule that can occur in starchy foods when they are cooked at high temperatures.
Although scientific research has not yet established a direct link between acrylamide and human health, reducing its presence in food is a goal because it is a potential carcinogen. To ensure the safety of consumers, EC did, however, release an advisory benchmark for food processors’ baking or frying products in 2018. This benchmark will be updated with new details later in 2023.
An online monitoring system to measure and control levels of acrylamide in chip production in real-time is being researched and developed by Abertay University, one of the top centers for acrylamide research in the UK. Taylors Snacks is a local company known for producing Mackie’s of Scotland potato chips. It will be the first of its kind in the sector.
“Acrylamide is an organic compound that can form in familiar carbohydrate-rich foods cooked or fried at high temperatures, including coffee, biscuits, cereals, and crisps, when the sugars react with a specific amino acid at temperatures above 120C,” Professor Alberto Fiore, who is co-leading the project with forensic chemistry expert Dr. Keith Sturrock at Abertay University’s Division of Engineering and Food Science, mentioned.
He has spent the previous 15 years working with several companies, including international processors, on acrylamide research.
“In the home, acrylamide would occur in burnt toast or chips that have been in the oven for too long, but in manufacturing, it’s more nuanced. Working with an industry like this is vital for our work to have a real impact. We can come up with the perfect solution in the lab, but it’s when we take it out of a control situation into real life that we see the implications and where we can make improvements. Working with Taylors Snacks will give us valuable insights and live scenarios that will positively impact wider industry research and development,” Professor Fiore said.
More than 2m packs of potato chips and other snacks are produced each month by Taylors Snacks, which changed its name from Mackies Crisps earlier this year, for sale in stores, abroad, wholesale, and in the food service industry. Taylors Snacks is based in Errol.
The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) initiative of Innovate UK has provided financing for the research. Building on the substantial work Taylors Snacks has already done to reduce the amount of acrylamide in its products, this initiative will examine every step of the process, from raw materials to procedures to finished goods, using a holistic approach.
To design the inline digital monitoring, a cutting-edge system that will predict acrylamide levels and enable processes to be adjusted in real-time, a complete understanding must be developed during this phase.
“This is pioneering work that will blaze a trail in the industry. As a fourth-generation family business, we’ve always been proud to produce quality products, consistently developing both high food standards and customer satisfaction. We constantly aim to exceed the best practice benchmark and working with Abertay University will allow us to optimize processes to continue to produce safe, great-tasting products for consumers while benefiting the rest of the sector who will learn from this work with Abertay University,” James Taylor, Managing Director of Taylors Snacks said.
The research will also include the development of inline monitoring technology. Professor Fiore’s research and collaborative work to date have included looking at all variables from plant varieties to the radio frequency of ovens, introducing new technology or naturally occurring antioxidants, and developing recipes.
To reduce the generation of acrylamide while cooking, gene-edited wheat cultivars with reduced asparagine content are being developed.
The project will be managed by an associate from Abertay University who will be situated at Taylors Snack’s headquarters to maximize research development and knowledge transfer. The project’s cost will also be subsidized in part by Taylors Snacks Ltd.
“The project illustrates the value of science at every stage of food production, and the two-way advantage of introducing lab research into real-life processes. It is when academia joins with industry so closely and constructively that both enterprise and science progress,” Linda Tinson of the RHASS Presidential Initiative declared.
The Royal Highland Show will host a showcase as the RHASS Presidents’ Initiative comes to a close. This event will bring together many industries and success stories from the past several months and produce a body of work that will be made publicly accessible.