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Product Library · Last updated 2026-05-20

Crunchy snacks (chips / fries / prawn crackers / veggie crisps)

Crunchy snacks, chips, and fries on a table

Every piece of advice below comes from official tests, consumer test reports, or publicly available data from international food-safety bodies. Click the links to check the original sources.

How to tell if this affects your family

  • Dark brown or charred chips and fries tend to have higher acrylamide levels — colour and formation are directly correlated.[1][2][3]
  • If your child is eating chips or fries 3 or more times a week, it's worth adjusting the portions.[4][5]
  • Fresh-cooked fries, hash browns, and potato waffles from restaurants and fast food chains tend to have higher average levels than pre-packaged snacks.[4]
  • Acrylamide is classified as a "Group 2A possible carcinogen" — there is animal evidence, but the human data is not yet conclusive. This is a long-term cumulative concern, not an immediate poisoning risk from a single serving.[2][6]

What you can do today

  • Switch large bags to smaller portions. Pre-portion snacks for your child so they don't eat the whole bag in one go.[7]
  • Make your own fries: cut potatoes into thicker strips and stop cooking when they're golden — not deep brown.[8][7][9]
  • Use an oven or air fryer at 180°C or below. Avoid long deep-frying times.[8][10]
  • Soak cut potatoes in water for 15–30 minutes before cooking to remove some of the reducing sugars, which reduces acrylamide formation.[8][11]

What to look for next time you shop

  • Prawn crackers and veggie crisps: acrylamide levels are far lower than in chips and fries — in the local Consumer Council test, all 7 samples with no detectable acrylamide were from these two categories.[4][5]
  • Choose lighter-coloured chips and avoid "extra crispy" or darker varieties.[1][3]
  • Check the nutrition label: per 100g, fat < 20g and sodium < 600mg (Centre for Food Safety reference levels for high fat / high sodium).[4]
  • Even prawn crackers with no detectable carcinogen tend to be high in sodium — pair them with lower-sodium snack options.[4][5]

Reference standards

  • EU Regulation 2017/2158 (acrylamide benchmark levels in food) — The EU sets benchmark levels for acrylamide in food, requiring the industry to take mitigation measures to reduce levels. Pre-packaged potato snacks: ≤ 750 μg/kg; ready-to-eat fries: ≤ 500 μg/kg. Official source
  • Centre for Food Safety reference levels for high-fat / high-sodium snacks — The Centre for Food Safety defines "high fat" as > 20g fat per 100g and "high sodium" as > 600mg sodium per 100g. Check these against the nutrition label when buying snacks. Official source

Sources

Every piece of advice above corresponds to one or more of the sources below. Any parent can click through to check the original.

  1. [1] Centre for Food Safety Food Alerts · cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_29_Acrylamide_in_Some_Popular_Foods.html
  2. [2] European Food Safety Authority Scientific Opinions · efsa.europa.eu/en/corporate/pub/acrylamide150604
  3. [3] U.S. FDA Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts · fda.gov/food/chemical-contaminants/acrylamide
  4. [4] Consumer Council · consumer.org.hk/en/press-release/526-snack-acrylamide
  5. [5] Consumer Council · consumer.org.hk/tc/article/526-snack-acrylamide/526_chips_table
  6. [6] Centre for Food Safety Food Alerts · cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_10_acrylamide.html
  7. [7] Centre for Food Safety Food Alerts · cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_10a_acy_fried_baked.html
  8. [8] U.S. FDA Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts · fda.gov/food/hfp-constituent-updates/fda-issues-final-guidance-industry-how-reduce-acrylamide-certain-foods
  9. [9] Consumer Reports (consumerreports.org) · consumerreports.org/food-safety/how-to-cook-potatoes-correctly-to-avoid-cancer-risks/
  10. [10] Which? (which.co.uk) · which.co.uk/news/article/are-air-fryers-the-healthiest-way-to-cook-chips-agV2a3l5x2Km
  11. [11] European Food Safety Authority Scientific Opinions · efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/acrylamide

Want to see the full test results?

This month's feature article breaks down the complete brand list from the Consumer Council's 2020 test of 77 crunchy snacks.

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