OSLO, Norway (AP) -- The Norwegian Food Control Authority said Thursday that a scientific study found high levels of a probable cancer-causing substance in several high carbohydrate foods that it said confirmed findings in Sweden.

The governmental agency ordered the chemical analysis of some 30 foods after Swedish scientists in April reported that potato chips, french fries and other high carbohydrate foods contain acrylamide, which may cause cancer.

Acrylamide forms when carbohydrates are heated in some cooking processes such as deep-frying potatoes or baking bread, according to the findings.

"Some carbohydrate-rich fried foods contain large quantities of the suspected cancer causing substance acrylamide," the agency said in a statement.

Mary Ellen Camire, a food scientist and nutritionist at the University of Maine, was skeptical.

She said fried foods contain a lot of chemicals that aren't healthy but that the link between cancer and acrylamide wasn't clear and there was no reason to tell people to stop eating food products just because they contain the chemical.

"Bread and rye crisps and breakfast cereals have a lot of health benefits. And if we start cutting back on those, what's going to fill the void?" she said.

After the Swedish study was released, the World Health Organization announced plans for a meeting of experts on the relationship between high carbohydrate foods and cancer, saying more study was required.

At the time, WHO said that while much is known about the effects of acrylamide on animals, there is far less information about its effect on humans. It said the Swedish findings did not change basic dietary advice to eat less fat and more fruit and vegetables.

The Norwegian agency used the types of foods identified by the Swedes as high in acrylamide as a basis for picking products from grocery stores in Oslo to be analyzed.

The study found that potato chips had the highest acrylamide level, 90 times higher than bread, which had the lowest level.

The authority noted great variation between brands, indicating that production techniques can reduce the levels in a product.

"We are in a close dialogue with food producers and have been informed that they are working actively to reduce the acrylamide levels in Norwegian food," agency director Gunnar Jordfald said.

The scientists also estimated that acrylamide in fried foods causes about 1 percent of diet-related cancer cases - or about 30 Norwegian a year - in the nation of 4.5 million people.

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