Process-induced toxicants in food: an overview on structures, formation pathways, sensory properties, safety and health implications

Abstract With the rapid advances in ready-to-eat food products and the progress of food processing industries, concerns about food security and investigating food safety as well as sensory quality have intensified. Many food safety concerns are attributed to the toxic components, which can be produced during food processing as process-induced toxicants (PITs). The thermal processing of food (e.g., baking, cooking, grilling, roasting, and toasting) may lead to the formation of some highly hazardous PITs for humans and animals. These include acrolein, acrylamide, benzene, ethyl carbamate, chlorinated compounds, heterocyclic organic compounds (HOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs), biogenic amines (BAs), N -nitrosamines, Maillard reaction products (MRPs), and several newly identified toxicants such as 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol. The occurrence of these contaminants is often accompanied by distinguishing odor, taste, and color. The severity of the sensory attributes can vary depending on the compound concentration. Knowledge about the biochemical and chemical mechanisms of PITs generation is necessary for expanding feasible approaches to limit and control their amounts in food products. This contribution introduces the most significant PITs, highlighting their formation mechanisms, impact on sensory characteristics of foods, analytical methods to detection, risk assessments, and food safety/adverse health effects of ultra-processed foods. Graphical Abstract