Acrylamide is not naturally found in cooking oil, but if starchy foods such as potatoes are fried in oil, and that oil is reused, then acrylamide can build up to dangerous levels. This is not a huge concern for domestic cookery (unless chip fryers are used and oil is not replaced) but it might worry a lot of people who work in the food industry and use cooking oil on a daily basis, because if cooking oil is used beyond its working life, acrylamide is likely to build up and could harm consumers.
It is recommended that cooking oil should be replaced when it reaches 25% Total Polar Compound (TPC). There isn’t a direct correlation between acrylamide and TPC levels but it’s widely acknowledged that oils with a high TPC level also contain higher levels of acrylamide.
