When any starchy food is heated above about 120°C (248°F), the sugars and amino acids react to create a variety of new compounds in a process called the Maillard reaction.
One of these is a molecule called acrylamide, which at very high doses has been shown to cause cancer in mice.
In response to this discovery, the UK Food Standards Agency launched a campaign in 2017 to encourage us to avoid overdone oven chips, roast potatoes and toast.
But since then, studies have consistently failed to find links between dietary acrylamide and cancer in humans.
The advice from Cancer Research UK is currently that “you don’t need to avoid burnt starchy foods”.
This article is an answer to the question (asked by Susan Barker, via email) 'Is burnt toast bad for you?'
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