PreventASe™, the enzyme of DSM Food Specialties that fights the toxic substance acrylamide in heated foodstuffs, has received a GRAS notification by the FDA. This notification, that stands for Generally Recognized As Safe, followed after filings by DSM Food Specialties of documents describing the production methods of its enzyme, toxicology tests as well as evidence out of scientific review articles.

PreventASe™ is the first enzyme ready to be marketed that is able to reduce acrylamide in baked foods by as much as 90%, to levels that significantly lower the daily human intake of acrylamide. Acrylamide is a toxic substance, which is proven to be carcinogenic in animals and suspected to be carcinogenic in humans. Earlier, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) expressed that acrylamide may indicate a human health concern, given its genotoxicity and carcinogenicity.

The PreventASe™ enzyme is a so-called “asparaginase enzyme preparation” from the Aspergillus niger micro-organism (A. niger). The enzyme basically converts one of the precursors of acrylamide, asparagine, into another naturally occurring amino acid, aspartate. As a result, asparagine is not available anymore for the chemical reaction that forms acrylamide when carbohydrate-containing foods, such as bread, cake, cookies, potato chips and cereals are being heated. The PreventASe™ enzyme essentially reduces the formation of acrylamide, by up to 90%. Applying asparaginase in food in order to reduce acrylamide has been identified by various institutions, amongst which the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU and several (semi)governmental institutions in Europe, as a very promising technology to fight acrylamide. However, some uncertainty was expressed about the safety of this PreventASe™ technology.

DSM has filed information about the enzyme component, the production micro-organism and the manufacturing process for the A. niger asparaginase enzyme preparation. The company has stated that the organism has a long history of safe industrial use and that the A. niger strain has been used in the construction of a variety of enzymes, including an enzyme that has received a GRAS status before. The FDA stated that there is no reason to question the conclusion that the enzyme preparation is safe, based on the information provided by DSM and other information available to the FDA.