Assessment of dietary acrylamide exposure in students using food services in a university cafeteria

This study aimed to determine the acrylamide level of meals served to students in a university cafeteria and evaluate the dietary acrylamide exposure of students using the duplicate-diet method. The study was conducted between May 13-26, 2024, in a university student cafeteria. During the two weeks, a total of 125 samples were collected by the researcher from all meals and bread served at lunch and dinner in the cafeteria. Since a semi-selective menu is provided in the cafeteria, the menus were classified as "Menu-1" (soup, main course, side dish, and complementary meal) and "Menu-2" (soup, alternative meal, side dish, and complementary meal). Both menus' acrylamide contents and contribution to dietary acrylamide exposure were determined. The collected samples were extracted and analyzed using High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) in two replicates. The limit of detection (LOD) was 5,87 µg/kg, and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 17,80 µg/kg. To avoid any potential overestimation of exposure, the contribution of samples with acrylamide concentrations below the LOQ to overall acrylamide exposure was not included in the calculations. The contribution of both menus to dietary acrylamide exposure of university students was similar (p>0,05). Among the analyzed samples, the dishes with the highest acrylamide content were cheese puff pastry (659,89 µg/kg) and French fries (369,57 µg/kg). In both menu choices, women (0,42 µg/kg/day) were exposed to higher levels of acrylamide than men (0,34 µg/kg/day). In the margin of exposure (MOE) approach used for long-term exposure estimation, MOE values calculated for neurotoxic effects were above 125, and MOE values calculated for carcinogenic effects were below 10.000. In conclusion, it was observed that the served menus may pose a potential risk for carcinogenic effects in university students.