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Dietary acrylamide intake of adults in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition differs greatly according to geographical region

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Abstract

Purpose

Methodological differences in assessing dietary acrylamide (AA) often hamper comparisons of intake across populations. Our aim was to describe the mean dietary AA intake in 27 centers of 10 European countries according to selected lifestyle characteristics and its contributing food sources in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Methods

In this cross-sectional analysis, 36 994 men and women, aged 35–74 years completed a single, standardized 24-hour dietary recall using EPIC-Soft. Food consumption data were matched to a harmonized AA database. Intake was computed by gender and center, and across categories of habitual alcohol consumption, smoking status, physical activity, education, and body mass index (BMI). Adjustment was made for participants’ age, height, weight, and energy intake using linear regression models.

Results

Adjusted mean AA intake across centers ranged from 13 to 47 μg/day in men and from 12 to 39 μg/day in women; intakes were higher in northern European centers. In most centers, intake in women was significantly higher among alcohol drinkers compared with abstainers. There were no associations between AA intake and physical activity, BMI, or education. At least 50 % of AA intake across centers came from two food groups “bread, crisp bread, rusks” and “coffee.” The third main contributing food group was “potatoes”.

Conclusions

Dietary AA intake differs greatly among European adults residing in different geographical regions. This observed heterogeneity in AA intake deserves consideration in the design and interpretation of population-based studies of dietary AA intake and health outcomes.

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Acknowledgments

The work described in the paper was carried out with the financial support of the European Commission: Public Health and Consumer Protection Directorate 1993–2004; Research Directorate-General 2005; Ligue contre le Cancer (France); Société 3 M (France); Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale; Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM); Institut Gustave Roussy; German Cancer Aid; German Cancer Research Center; German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; German Cancer Research Center; Danish Cancer Society; Health Research Fund (FIS) of the Spanish Ministry of Health; Spanish Regional Governments of Andalucía, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia and Navarra and the Catalan Institute of Oncology; and ISCIII RETIC (RD06/0020), Spain; Cancer Research UK; Medical Research Council, UK; the Stroke Association, UK; British Heart Foundation; Department of Health, UK; Food Standards Agency, UK; the Wellcome Trust, UK; Greek Ministry of Health; Hellenic Health Foundation; Stavros Niarchos Foundation; Italian Association for Research on Cancer; Italian National Research Council, Regione Sicilia (Sicilian government); Associazione Iblea per la Ricerca Epidemiologica—ONLUS (Hyblean association for epidemiological research, NPO); Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports; Dutch Prevention Funds; LK Research Funds; Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland); World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF); Swedish Cancer Society; Swedish Research Council; Regional Government of Skane and the County Council of Vasterbotten, Sweden; Norwegian Cancer Society; the Norwegian Research Council and the Norwegian Foundation for Health and Rehabilitation. HF, AM, PF, and NS participated in the statistical design, data analysis, and writing of the manuscript. HF was responsible of writing of the manuscript and prepared the tables and figures. GN was responsible for matching food consumption data to the acrylamide database, helped with the interpretation of the data and the writing of the manuscript. ER is the coordinator of the overall EPIC project which was conceptualized, designed, and implemented in collaboration with the main investigators in the collaborating countries. VK, FC, MB, LN, BT, VG, HB, MC, AT, AO, KO, JRQ, EJD, MS, PA, MC, AB, KK, NJW, FLC, VG, EO, AN, AT, DP, CA, RT, SP, AM, HBB, MCO, PHMP, EW, UE, IAB, IJ, AH, DE, GS helped with the interpretation of data or the writing of the manuscript. HF had primary responsibility for final content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Conflict of interest

All the authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dietary Exposure Assessment Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150, Cours Albert Thomas, 69372, Lyon Cedex 08, France

    Heinz Freisling, Aurelie Moskal, Geneviève Nicolas, Viktoria Knaze & Nadia Slimani

  2. Nutritional Epidemiology Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France

    Pietro Ferrari

  3. Inserm, ERI 20, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France

    Françoise Clavel-Chapelon, Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault & Laura Nailler

  4. Unit of Nutritional Epidemiology, Division of Cancer Epidemiology (c020), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

    Birgit Teucher & Verena A. Grote

  5. Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Germany

    Heiner Boeing & Matthias Clemens

  6. Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Anne Tjønneland & Anja Olsen

  7. Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark

    Kim Overvad

  8. Public Health Directorate, Asturias, Oviedo, Spain

    J. Ramón Quirós

  9. Unit of Nutrition, Environment and Cancer, Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain

    Eric J. Duell

  10. Andalusian School of Public Health, Granada, Spain

    María-José Sánchez

  11. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública CIBERESP, Barcelona, Spain

    María-José Sánchez, Pilar Amiano, Maria-Dolores Chirlaque & Aurelio Barricarte

  12. Public Health Division of Gipuzkoa, BIODonostia Research Institute, Department of Health of the Regional Government of the Basque Country, San Sebastian, Spain

    Pilar Amiano

  13. Department of Epidemiology, Murcia Regional Health Authority, Murcia, Spain

    Maria-Dolores Chirlaque

  14. Navarra Public Health Institute, Pamplona, Spain

    Aurelio Barricarte

  15. School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrookes Hospital, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Kay-Tee Khaw

  16. Epidemiology Unit, Medical Research Council, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge, UK

    Nicholas J. Wareham

  17. Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Francesca L. Crowe

  18. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Valentina Gallo, Petra H. M. Peeters & Elio Riboli

  19. Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Eleni Oikonomou, Androniki Naska & Antonia Trichopoulou

  20. Hellenic Health Foundation, Athens, Greece

    Androniki Naska & Antonia Trichopoulou

  21. Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Cancer Research and Prevention Institute, ISPO, Florence, Italy

    Domenico Palli

  22. Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy

    Claudia Agnoli

  23. Cancer Registry and Histopathology Unit, “Civile M.P. Arezzo” Hospital, ASP Ragusa, Italy

    Rosario Tumino

  24. Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology, HuGeF (Human Genetics Foundation), Turin, Italy

    Silvia Polidoro

  25. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Federico II University, Naples, Italy

    Amalia Mattiello

  26. National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands

    H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita & Marga C. Ocké

  27. Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita

  28. Julius Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Petra H. M. Peeters

  29. Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease, Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Elisabet Wirfält & Ulrika Ericson

  30. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umea University, Umea, Sweden

    Ingvar A. Bergdahl

  31. Department of Odontology, Umea University, Umea, Sweden

    Ingegerd Johansson

  32. Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Anette Hjartåker

  33. Department of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway

    Dagrun Engeset & Guri Skeie

  34. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Valentina Gallo

Authors
  1. Heinz Freisling
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  2. Aurelie Moskal
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  3. Pietro Ferrari
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  6. Françoise Clavel-Chapelon
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  8. Laura Nailler
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  9. Birgit Teucher
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  11. Heiner Boeing
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  14. Anja Olsen
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  26. Eleni Oikonomou
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  27. Androniki Naska
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  28. Antonia Trichopoulou
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  29. Domenico Palli
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  30. Claudia Agnoli
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  31. Rosario Tumino
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  32. Silvia Polidoro
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  33. Amalia Mattiello
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  34. H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita
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  35. Marga C. Ocké
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  36. Petra H. M. Peeters
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  37. Elisabet Wirfält
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  38. Ulrika Ericson
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  39. Ingvar A. Bergdahl
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  40. Ingegerd Johansson
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  41. Anette Hjartåker
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  42. Dagrun Engeset
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  43. Guri Skeie
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  44. Elio Riboli
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  45. Nadia Slimani
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heinz Freisling.

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Freisling, H., Moskal, A., Ferrari, P. et al. Dietary acrylamide intake of adults in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition differs greatly according to geographical region. Eur J Nutr 52, 1369–1380 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-012-0446-x

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