Influence of apple pomace and asparaginase on acrylamide levels in cookies and behavior during simulated gastric digestion: risk assessment perspectives

Cookies are widely consumed baked products; however, their contribution to dietary acrylamide (ACR) intake raises increasing health concerns. This study investigated the effects of apple pomace addition and asparaginase treatment on ACR levels in cookies, the fate of ACR during simulated gastric digestion using the INFOGEST semi-dynamic model, and the associated health risks of ACR exposure from cookie consumption. Risk assessment was conducted for adults (18–65 years) and children (3–10 years) using Monte Carlo simulation. Three formulations were evaluated: a control cookie, a cookie in which wheat flour was partially replaced with apple pomace, and a cookie containing asparaginase. Cookies formulated with apple pomace contained significantly lower ACR levels than the control (132 ± 8 μg/kg vs. 215 ± 11 μg/kg; p < 0.05), although the reduction was less pronounced than in cookies containing asparaginase (65 ± 14 μg/kg). During gastric digestion, ACR exhibited formulation-dependent release kinetics. Nevertheless, the total ACR released at the end of digestion was similar for control and pomace cookies, likely due to additional ACR formation in the stomach, despite differences in release patterns throughout digestion. Margin of Exposure (MOE) values for children remained well below 10,000, indicating a potential carcinogenic risk, although reductions of up to 59% were observed for control and pomace cookies after digestion. Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) values showed a slight increase after digestion in both age groups but remained below 1, suggesting no concern for chronic toxicity. Control cookies indicated a potential carcinogenic risk for children (ILCR = 1.56 × 10−4), whereas pomace and asparaginase formulations reduced this risk (ILCR = 9.59 × 10−5 and 4.72 × 10−5, respectively). However, simulated gastric digestion increased ILCR values for both control and pomace cookies (2.24 × 10−4 and 2.33 × 10−4, respectively). These findings indicate that dietary exposure to ACR cannot be assessed solely based on its concentration in food, and that digestive kinetics should be incorporated into health risk assessment.