Background Acrylamide has attracted much attention since it was found in food in 2002. Acrylamide is formed in high-temperature fried starch-rich food during the Maillard reaction, and has been identified as a teratogenic, carcinogenic, and neurotoxic compound.

Objective This study is designed to assess the health risk of exposure to acrylamide related to the consumption of retail fried and baked foods from Shanghai markets using the food consumption data and the data of acrylamide contamination in these foods.

Methods A stratified random sampling method was used to select fried and baked food samples, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to determine acrylamide in food samples. Food consumption was investigated by food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Population's probability distributions of acrylamide exposure were assessed by@Risk 7.5 software and Monte Carlo simulation algorithm. According to the dietary intake assessment model, the method of low-dose extrapolation was applied to the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk assessments of exposure to acrylamide related to the consumption of retail fried and baked foods.

Results The mean concentration of acrylamide in 1049 fried and baked food samples was 51.88μg·kg^-1. Among different types of foods, the fried and puffed foods had the highest concentration of acrylamide (89.43μg·kg^-1 in mean). The mean consumption of fried and baked foods by residents in Shanghai was 82.85 g·d^-1. Among all investigated age groups, the juveniles (3-17 years old) had the highest consumption with a mean of 96.41g·d^-1. The dietary exposure to acrylamide from fried and baked foods in Shanghai residents averaged 0.16 μg·kg^-1·d^-1 (average level) and the P₉₅ exposure valued 0.41 μg·kg^-1·d^-1 (high level). Particularly, the average-and high-level exposure estimates for the juveniles (3-17 years old) were 0.24 and 0.59 μg·kg^-1·d^-1, respectively. In terms of non-carcinogenic effects, the proportions of at-risk residents defined as with an exposure higher than the reference dose were 0.60%, 2.60%, 0.40%, and 0.20% in the all age group, juveniles, young adults, and the elderly, respectively, and no risk in middle-aged adults and pregnant women. In terms of carcinogenic effects, the incremental lifetime cancer risks of the studied population at average level and high level of intake were 1.08×10^-4 and 2.28×10^-4, respectively.

Conclusion The Shanghai residents have a higher risk of impaired health due to exposure to acrylamide from fried and baked foods than residents in other regions of China. Children and adolescents at 3-17 years are at a high risk and should be highly concerned.