Mutagen formation in deep‐fat fried foods as a function of frying conditions

Abstract

Abstract Deep‐fat fried foods possess low levels of mutagenic activity, and severely abusive frying conditions must be employed to obtain appreciable levels of mutagenic activity. With French fried potatoes, either excessively long frying times (35‐40 min) or abnormally high frying temperatures (above 410 F or 210 C) were necessary to generate appreciable levels of mutagenic activity (> 2.5 times the spontaneous mutation rate). Repetitive frying of 45 batches of French fried potatoes or onion rings in the same batch of shortening elicited no increase in mutagen formation. Repetitive frying of fish fillets in the same batch of shortening resulted in the generation of appreciable levels of mutagen(s) in both the acidic and basic methylene chloride extracts. Increased mutagenic activity was noted by the 7th batch. Fish fillets obtained from a local restaurant at selected intervals during a one‐week period of use of a particular batch of frying oil contained much lower levels of mutagenic activity.