Furan (C₄H₄O) is a volatile, heterocyclic and carcinogenic heterocyclic chemical compound occurring in a wide range of thermally processed foods. Several studies have been conducted to analyze the formation conditions, triggering furan formation via model systems. Furan can be encountered via various pathways including thermal degradation, oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, thermal rearrangement of carbohydrates in the presence of amino acids, thermal degradation of certain amino acids. Furan has been proven to cause cancer in experimental animal models and classified as a possible human carcinogen by International agency for research on cancer based on sufficient evidences. Thus, different strategies should be developed to reduce furan contents in commercially available food stuffs while food processing. This review summarizes some current evidences of furan formation from different precursors, analytical methods for its detection, and its toxicity that might lead to carcinogenicity and genotoxicity with human risk assessment. In addition, furan occurrence in different thermally processed foods entailed by several recent studies as well as furan mitigation strategies during food processing have also been illustrated in this review.

呋喃（C ₄ H ₄O）是易挥发，杂环和致癌的杂环化合物，广泛存在于热加工食品中。已经进行了一些研究来分析形成条件，通过模型系统触发呋喃形成。呋喃可以通过各种途径遇到，包括热降解，多不饱和脂肪酸的氧化，在氨基酸存在下碳水化合物的热重排，某些氨基酸的热降解。呋喃已在实验动物模型中被证明会致癌，并被国际研究机构根据充分的证据归类为可能的人类致癌物。因此，应当开发不同的策略来减少食品加工过程中市售食品中的呋喃含量。这篇综述总结了一些由不同前体形成的呋喃的当前证据，检测它的分析方法以及它的毒性，这些毒性可能通过人类风险评估导致致癌性和遗传毒性。此外，本综述还说明了一些近期研究所引起的不同热加工食品中呋喃的发生以及食品加工过程中的呋喃缓解策略。