The cause of high acrylamide in Peruvian panela

Panela is produced by 600 smallholder farmers in northern Peru, a region with a high poverty index. Exporting the product guarantees a respectable price. However, European buyers are concerned about the product’s high acrylamide levels. Alliance researchers, together with local partners, identified the cause and validated low-cost kits for monitoring levels, which reduced the cost of analysis by 80%. This has allowed continued export of the product and facilitated the biggest cooperative in northern Peru to resolve this issue.