Abstract: It is disclosed here that for any food preparation process that involves a high temperature heating step, the acrylamide level in the final food product can be reduced by treating an intermediate food material with a food-grade microorganism and/or a caramel coloring agent before the high temperature heating step. It is further disclosed that a food-grade microorganism and/or a caramel coloring agent can be used to restore diminished browned color and/or browned flavor in a food product in which the browned color and flavor are diminished as a result of other acrylamide reduction treatments.

Abstract: Acrylamide formation in a food material can be suppressed by water-blanching the food material at a suitable temperature for a sufficient period of time as specified herein, or by treating the food material with an acrylamide-formation suppressing agent disclosed herein. In the water-blanching method, suitable blanching temperatures range from about 45° C. to about 78° C., and suitable blanching time is a time period of over 4 minutes. The acrylamide-formation suppressing agent that can employed to suppress acrylamide formation include a multivalent cation, a chelating compound, a carbonyl group blocker, and a combination of any of the foregoing. The water-blanching method is applicable to food materials having essentially intact cellular and tissue structures. The method employing an acrylamide-formation suppressing agent applies to all food materials either with or without intact cellular and tissue structures.