Hong Kong consumer watchdog warns air fryers can still pose the same health risks as traditional cooking methods
- While the trendy appliances are often touted as being healthier than methods like deep frying, the Consumer Council finds some risks still remain
- Some models also present safety risks, as design flaws leave them susceptible to short circuits, the council says
Hongkongers should be wary of marketing hype touting the health benefits of air fryers, the Consumer Council warned on Wednesday, noting that potentially cancer-causing compounds could still be created from preparing food with such products.
In a study of 12 air fryers, the watchdog found frozen thin French fries cooked in half of the tested appliances contained high levels of a naturally occurring, “probably carcinogenic” substance known as acrylamide, which is formed when some foods such as potatoes are processed at high temperatures.
A 2015 study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Food Science found that air frying potatoes – as compared to deep frying them – appeared to decrease the formation of acrylamide significantly, but Consumer Council testing found that the levels were often still well in excess of EU benchmarks.
Fries cooked in the HK$999 (US$129) Imarflex IHF-26E, for instance, had the highest amount of acrylamide – 7,038 micrograms per kilogram, or 13 times the EU benchmark of 500 micrograms per kilogram.
The model that produced the second-highest amount of the substance was Denki’s DAF-35 (HK$688), at 1475 micrograms per kilogram, and the third-highest amount came from ecHome’s AF1400BK (HK$960), with 1471 micrograms per kilogram. Both figures were almost three times the European benchmark.
The chairwoman of the council’s research and testing committee, Nora Tam Fung-yee, urged food lovers to be mindful of their intake of air-fried food, even though the cooking method was generally healthier than deep frying given it used less oil.
“Air frying is a kind of roasting. It’s still not very healthy because it may create carcinogenic compounds like acrylamide, particularly when you air fry thin French fries at a high temperature or for a long time,” Tam said.