Salty wheat crackers prepared from wheat white (WF) and whole grain flour (WG) were enriched with 5, 10, and 15% cricket powder (CRPW). According to the content of dietary fiber and fat, two types of wheat flour and CRPW differed in terms of darkness “100 − L*” and redness a*. The color of the baked products reflected these differences, but the darkening of the whole grain crackers was less intense; the shades of wheat–cricket 90:10 and whole grain 100:0 cracker variants were comparable. Within the WF subset, the hardness diminished insignificantly, with the reverse occurring in the WG group (from 25 to 22 N and from 31 to 35 N, respectively). The flexibility of the crackers was independent on type of wheat flour and the proportion of CRPW, as shown by a 90% confidence interval of 0.97–1.06 mm. By Principal Component Analysis, the primary role of wheat flour type in distinguishing the crackers was confirmed. As expected, the darkness “100 − L*” and the redness a* of the cracker surface could be used to predict the results of the texture breaking test and fragility in general (P = 95%). The 90:10 WF–cricket crackers and 95:5 WG–cricket crackers had similar properties, and both could be adopted in baking practice without modification.

This study aimed to assess vacuum frying as a measure to mitigate acrylamide formation in carrot crisps produced under conventional frying conditions. Furthermore, a comprehensive investigation was conducted, with a focus on a digital smartphone-based colourimetry as a rapid and non-destructive method for acrylamide screening. Although acrylamide levels in conventionally fried crisps reached 12,741 μg/kg, significantly exceeding the proposed EU benchmark of 700 μg/kg, vacuum frying reduced acrylamide formation by 83-93%. Besides frying parameters, the moisture content of the raw carrots had the greatest influence on the formation of acrylamide. The red colour channel intensity exhibited strong correlations (r² > 0.95) with the acrylamide content under conventional frying conditions. Conversely, colourimetry method limitations were observed in vacuum-fried crisps, due to limited colour development. The findings support vacuum frying as an effective mitigation strategy and demonstrate the feasibility of digital colourimetry for real-time monitoring of food safety and quality.