The 4th meeting of the European project ICARE in which the ITERG intervenes like center ACTIA partner, has just proceeded in Prague the 28 & 29 June.

The aim of this European project of the 6th PCRD is the study of the neoformed compounds in food during the industrial processes or during the culinary operations.

The ITERG intervenes to study the impact of the frying or roasting on the formation of undesirable neo-compounds starting from oils or of the fats.

At this meeting, Anne ROSSIGNOL-CASTERA Development Manager, presented the analytical work completed under the responsibility of Florence LACOSTE.

The neoformed compounds determinated by ITERG are the trans fatty-acids, the cyclic monomers, the oxysterols and the PAH (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) in various foods in particular roasted or fried food. All these undesirable compounds for health even toxic, can be neoformed by isomerization, oxidation or cyclization of the fatty-acids or sterols under the effect of high temperature treatments.

At the same time, a Spanish partner carries out the determination of the acrylamide and a French team of Agroparistech to Beauvais (ISAB) develops a technique of spectral print allowing to quickly obtain an evaluation of the total level of neoformed compounds present in a product.

ITERG validated or developed sufficiently powerful analytical techniques to detect and detrminate the neoformed compounds in the fats and to follow their formation during the technological treatments.

Our results show a significant effect of the conditions of cooking on the content of neoformed compounds, for example for fried potatoes/boiled, a roasted/crude meat, roasted sesame seeds /non roasted but the detected levels remain acceptable.
It is also the case for various industrial samples of chips which were analyzed.

Tests now will be realized to study the impact of the rate of polyunsaturated fatty-acids of oil on the level of neoformed compounds during frying.

For more information : Anne ROSSIGNOL-CASTERA, Development Manager