Proposed Prop 65 Amendment Would Update Exposure Listings From Cooked Food
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has proposed an amendment to Proposition 65 regarding acrylamide produced by cooking certain foods. The amendment, Section 25505 Exposures to Listed Chemicals in Cooked or Heat Processed Foods, would establish that consuming these foods would not count as exposure to acrylamide and no warnings would be necessary, as long as concentrations are kept at the lowest levels feasible through appropriate quality control measures.
Acrylamide, listed in Prop 65 as a carcinogen and a reproductive toxicant, is created in a natural chemical reaction when high carbohydrate foods are heated to a high temperature. As cooking is a human activity, Prop 65’s exemption for chemicals that occur naturally in food does not apply.
The Section 25505 amendment recognizes that while certain levels of acrylamide is unavoidable, the amount formed can be mitigated by following certain practices. The proposed regulations would incentivize food manufacturers and producers to reduce listed chemicals formed through cooking or heat processing to the lowest level currently feasible, while continuing to require warnings for such chemicals in food when present at levels above the lowest levels currently feasible. This would be based on guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization and certain European Union agencies.
For more information, click here. The OEHHA is accepting public comments on the proposed amendment until October 6.