NoooooooooOOOOoooooo! Grilling causes cancer??!!???

Steve

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Although I typically don't sear meat, and definitely don't cook it well done, this makes me very, very sad:

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/05/reducing-risk-when-grilling-meat/#.UegHw9KA_I4

When meats are grilled, broiled, or seared, the high cooking temperature breaks down the amino acid creatine (an amino acid found in muscle), forming chemicals called heterocyclic amines (HCAs). The federal government added HCAs to its list of known carcinogens in 2005. Some of the highest concentrations of HCAs are found in grilled meats, according to a 2003 study published in the International Journal of Food Science and Technology. Grilling meat provides the right conditions for HCA formation because more HCAs are produced the longer and hotter the meat cooks.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/cooked-meats

Excerpt below, emphasis mine:

  • Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are chemicals formed when muscle meat, including beef, pork, fish, and poultry, is cooked using high-temperature methods, such as pan frying or grilling directly over an open flame.
  • The formation of HCAs and PAHs is influenced by the type of meat, the cooking time, the cooking temperature, and the cooking method.
  • Exposure to high levels of HCAs and PAHs can cause cancer in animals; however, whether such exposure causes cancer in humans is unclear.
  • Currently, no Federal guidelines address consumption levels of HCAs and PAHs formed in meat.
  • HCA and PAH formation can be reduced by avoiding direct exposure of meat to an open flame or a hot metal surface, reducing the cooking time, and using a microwave oven to partially cook meat before exposing it to high temperatures.
  • Ongoing studies are investigating the associations between meat intake, meat cooking methods, and cancer risk.

The suggestions include reducing cooking times (no smoking), microwaving your meat (???? Yuck!) and avoiding sear. They also SUGGEST using gas over charcoal. I... I can't take it. I have to sit down. I'm... I'm getting dizzy.
 

clfsean

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Yeah... until the gov't (BWAHAHAHAHAHA.... whatta ****ing joke there) does something about the big yellow cancer causing ball in the sky or the stuff we breath causing cancer... everything is taken in stride.
 
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Steve

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http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/prevention.htm

I think the Man is way ahead of you:

CDC recommends easy options for protection from UV radiation—
  • Seek shade, especially during midday hours.
  • Wear clothing to protect exposed skin.
  • Wear a hat with a wide brim to shade the face, head, ears, and neck.
  • Wear sunglasses that wrap around and block as close to 100% of both UVA and UVB rays as possible.
  • Use sunscreen with sun protective factor (SPF) 15 or higher, and both UVA and UVBprotection.
  • Avoid indoor tanning.
 

Carol

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No. They can't have my fire! :D

I've read a bit about that myself. I don't think its a huge risk, and it doesn't sound like the study has been able to conclude it either.

My takeaway from this is that the biggest risk is in blackened foods, and that it is the charring that provides the greatest concentration of these chemicals. For me personally, I don't particularly care for blackened foods. I'll eat around a black portion of meat should I burn it. The only blackened meat I intentionally eat would be a steak Pittsburgh from a fine steak house. If I get to a fine steak house once over the course of the year I consider myself to be a lucky lady :)
 

Bob Hubbard

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Yeah, I knew all that. So I did what I had to do.

I bought a Weber charcoal grill, bought a few bags of lump charcoal (no brickettes), a chimney starter (no fluid starters for me), and have been smoking, grilling, and charring all summer.

With the amount of BS GMO foods, toxic sweetners, HFCS, antibiotics and narcotics in the food supply as it is, I figure a little char ain't gonna hurt.

Before I die, I'm gonna go have a triple bipass at the Heart Attack Grill with all you can eat flatliner fries too.

:)
 

Tgace

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Yeah and Salt causes high blood pressure...er...no...now it doesn't....

Im to the point where I don't believe ANY of this "food science" crap.
 

arnisador

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Effects are highly individualistic--so the average over many people is a poor predictor for the outcome for a single individual.
 

ballen0351

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They been saying that for year I eat that stuff all the time and I'm perfectly fi
 

granfire

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Although I typically don't sear meat, and definitely don't cook it well done, this makes me very, very sad:

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/05/reducing-risk-when-grilling-meat/#.UegHw9KA_I4



http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/cooked-meats

Excerpt below, emphasis mine:



The suggestions include reducing cooking times (no smoking), microwaving your meat (???? Yuck!) and avoiding sear. They also SUGGEST using gas over charcoal. I... I can't take it. I have to sit down. I'm... I'm getting dizzy.

so does eating, drinking sunning, sun screen, driving, walking, sleeping, staying up, eating healthy, eating junk, breathing....

grill on mate!
 

Tgace

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Yup...life causes death eventually.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
 

Zero

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Now vitamins/vitamin tablets will kill you young too (at least going by the recent studies on voles - with mice, increased vit amounts seemed to prolong life, with voles it has drastically reduced it in controlled studies).

So don't take any vitmains if you have a decent diet (whatever that is)...although they still saying taking Vitamin D (or was it B?) can reduce chances of skin cancer occurrence...hmmm, death by skin cancer or vitamin OD?

Maybe the only thing to take away from this is when you do BBQ, make sure you aren't mixing your steaks or burgers with vitamin tablets!
 

granfire

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Now vitamins/vitamin tablets will kill you young too (at least going by the recent studies on voles - with mice, increased vit amounts seemed to prolong life, with voles it has drastically reduced it in controlled studies).

So don't take any vitmains if you have a decent diet (whatever that is)...although they still saying taking Vitamin D (or was it B?) can reduce chances of skin cancer occurrence...hmmm, death by skin cancer or vitamin OD?

Maybe the only thing to take away from this is when you do BBQ, make sure you aren't mixing your steaks or burgers with vitamin tablets!

LOL

I think its D, since this way you can reduce skin exposure to deadly sunshine...

Yeah, I think Celery is the only food that has not made the news yet....no matter what we do, we are doomed to die....
 

Zero

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LOL

I think its D, since this way you can reduce skin exposure to deadly sunshine...

Yeah, I think Celery is the only food that has not made the news yet....no matter what we do, we are doomed to die....

Yeah, but death by celery would be a pretty nasty way to go too!
 

donald1

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Lucky for me I don't know how to cook , so that makes me safe. Still a shocker though
 
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