Public Workshop on Acrylamide with Respect to Proposition 65 Regulatory Options
The California Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is the lead agency for the implementation of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65; Health and Safety Code Section 25249.5 et seq.). As such, OEHHA has expertise in the evaluation of the toxicity of chemicals. Recent research has shown that appreciable levels of acrylamide, a chemical known to the state to cause cancer, result from the cooking of certain foodstuffs at high temperatures. The presence of acrylamide in food is a matter of public health significance due to the extremely broad range of foods in which acrylamide has been detected. Accordingly, it is appropriate for OEHHA to further assess the health issues related to acrylamide in food and provide its assessment to interested parties.
On March 14, 2003, OEHHA published a public notice in the California Regulatory Notice Register (Register 03, No. 11) soliciting input and information on possible agenda items for a workshop to discuss appropriate Proposition 65 regulatory options regarding acrylamide created by cooking foods, including the adoption of alternative risk levels. Information received during that solicitation will be considered as the agenda for the workshop is prepared. OEHHA expects to post the agenda for the workshop and links to background materials on its website during the week of April 21, 2003. The URL for that website is www.oehha.ca.gov.
The workshop will be held on Monday, May 12, 2003, in the Central Valley Auditorium, California Environmental Protection Agency Building, 1001 I Street, 2nd Floor, Sacramento, California. The workshop will begin at 10:00 am and will last until all business has been conducted or 5:00 p.m. After consideration of the information received during the workshop, OEHHA anticipates taking more formal regulatory action as appropriate to address the issue of acrylamide in food. OEHHA plans to announce next steps regarding those actions in July 2003. OEHHA expects that this regulatory process will clarify the application of Proposition 65 to foods containing acrylamide including potato and cereal-based products.
For further information on the workshop, please contact:
the Proposition 65 Office
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
Proposition 65 Implementation
P.O. Box 4010
1001 I Street, 19th floor
Sacramento, California 95812-4010
Fax (916) 323-8803
Telephone (916) 445-6900
- Acrylamide
Chemical Reference
- Aug 1, 2003
Related Notices
Footnotes and References
Background information can be obtained from the following links.
Link to U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Draft Action Plan for Acrylamide in Food - February 24, 2003 March 2004 Update:
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/ChemicalContaminants/ucm053519.htm
Link to Acrylamide INFONET - the FAO/WHO Acrylamide in Food Network:
www.acrylamide-food.org
This is operated by the U.S. FDA and University of Maryland’s Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. It has links to many websites worldwide.