Cracking down on acrylamide

The Smart Cookie Guide to creating safer biscuits and sweet snacks

The biscuit and cookie market is changing fast, as we see increasing numbers of free-from, functional and premium products hitting an already-crowded marketplace. Naturally, it’s the sensory eating experience (including great taste & texture) that remains the top priority for biscuit lovers everywhere. However, we now see an increasing focus on health. According to research some 34% of consumers say that they now snack for health reasons - up from 24% since 2021.¹

At the same time, there has been an increased focus on acrylamide levels in food and its impact on health and wellbeing. The EU introduced benchmark levels of acrylamide, based on the ALARA principle (as low as reasonably achievable) in April 2018. At the start of 2019, BEUC, the European Consumer Organization, conducted tests on 532 samples and found that many products don’t comply with benchmark levels yet - especially biscuits for young children, in particular, contain too much acrylamide.

The challenge? Based on our experience, there are huge disparities in acrylamide levels – especially in biscuits and cookies where the ingredients, formulations and processes used can vary enormously. In fact, acrylamide content can vary anywhere from 50 ppb to an astonishing 7,000 ppb in biscuits and cookies.