Acrylamide crops up in more foods
  March 31, 2004 - ABC

The Australian and New Zealand Food Standards Authority says it not changing its warnings about the presence of a cancer-causing agent in food.

The American Food and Drug Administration has published a list of more than 700 foods, including olives, plum juice and infant teething biscuits which contain the substance acrylamide.

It is known to cause cancer if inhaled, but was thought to only occur in carbohydrates cooked at high temperatures.

Food Standards Authority spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann says there is still no conclusive evidence that acrylamides in foods are carcinogenic.

"At this stage we still are not finding any link between consumption of acrylamide in food and any particular risk," she said.

"So our advice still remains to eat a balanced and varied diet, but at this stage not to change eating habits or cooking habits."