Potentially toxic food components formed by excessive heat processing

Neoformed contaminants (NFCs) are compounds formed during heating processes that exhibit potential harmful effects to humans. Among the several NFCs described in literature, acrylamide and furan are mainly formed through the Maillard Reaction (MR) in potatoes and cereal products. Modern science has shown that heating of meat and other protein-rich foods can generate various kinds of potentially hazardous compounds, some of which are genotoxic and carcinogenic. However, other toxic compounds formed during cooking of food such as furan, and a variety of MR Products and lipid oxidation products may also constitute an increased risk of cancer for consumers. The MR can be considered as one of the most important chemical reactions taking place during food processing. A series of chemical reactions between reducing sugars and amino compounds occurring during food production can be summarized as the MR. A multitude of reaction products can be formed from the MR which have been attributed to display characteristics such as antioxidative, antimicrobial, mutagenic.