**Acknowledgements**

herbs are used for various purposes prominently in traditional medicines. Application of such

As defined by Key et al. [113], genetically modified crops/plants are those that have been genetically altered through the use of recombinant DNA technology. This may be to express a gene not native to the plants or to modify endogenous ones [113]. This issue has in the recent years attracted worldwide attention especially regarding its risk to the environment and human health. While it is widely accepted in many parts of the world, including parts of America and Asia, it still remains a controversial issue in Europe [35]. Most African continents follow the latter, as concerns regarding the immediate and long-term effects of genetically modified crops are major hindrances to adopting this technology. Although different authors, government agencies and international organizations have backed and supported genetic modification, there is still a stiff opposition against its acceptance. Inconsistencies in free sugar, amino acid and asparagine contents in crops of different cultivars (varieties) and genotypes however suggest that the varying concentration of these parameters is due to genetic variations [19, 29, 38, 114]. Consequently, fast tracking the natural breeding process through the use of genetic engineering to develop cultivars (varieties) with lower concentration of asparagine and reducing sugars should be possible and encouraged [35]. It has been shown that simultaneous silencing of the genes (StAst1 and StAst2) that encode for asparagine synthetase which is the enzyme that catalyse the formation of asparagine in potato, significantly reduced the levels of asparagine in the transgenic crop [115]. Another study demonstrated reduction in the concentration of reducing sugars, which also participate in reaction leading to ACR formation. For instance, since reducing sugar is accumulated during the cold storage of potato (cold-induced sweetening), silencing of the enzyme acid invertase resulted in potato with reduced concentration of fructose and glucose as well as low ACR concentration when processed into French fries [116]. While genetic modification continues to be controversial, the farmers, the food industry and other vital stakeholders should be proactive in the develop-

extracts would go a long way in the mitigation of ACR occurrence in foods.

ment of crop varieties that would yield lower ACR levels in food.

This chapter gives an overview of ACR in foods, significant progress in its formation and mitigation strategies with a dearth of information in Africa. Its occurrence and exposure in other parts of the world have been extensively reviewed by other authors with little focus on the African continent. Starch-based foods and food products constitute a major and basic daily diet for millions in the developing world, particularly in Africa. Coupled with the myriad of associated traditional heat processing operations, it is justified to conclude that inhabitants in this region are exposed to high risk of ACR contamination. This is expected to stimulate interest among scientists working in the field of food safety and quality, for making better efforts towards investigating the occurrence and exposure of ACR in Africa. With such data lacking, there is also insufficient information on the impact of lower levels of exposure to ACR content,

**4. Conclusion and future prospects**

**3.6. Genetic modification**

164 Acrylic Polymers in Healthcare

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support via the Global Excellence and Stature (GES) Fellowship of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) provided to the main author (O. A. Adebo). This work was also partly supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Center of Excellence (CoE) in Food Security co-hosted by the University of Pretoria (UP) and the University of Western Cape (UWC), South Africa.
