Lighting the BBQ this summer? Tips to Minimize the Risk of Cancer From Grilling – National

As barbecue season gets underway, experts are advising Canadians to take precautions when grilling red meat and hot dogs. While those tantalizing charred spots add flavor, they also pose potential health risks.

Fortunately, you can enjoy your favorite grilled foods while minimizing the dangers.

Cooking meat at high temperatures can create potentially harmful chemicals. These include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic amines (HCAs). Although no direct link has been established with human cancer, laboratory experiments demonstrate According to the researchers, they can change DNA in ways that could increase the risk of cancer. United States National Cancer Institute (NIH).

“There are two things to be aware of when it comes to barbecuing. The first is that red and processed meats, such as beef, hot dogs or sausages, are types of red processed meat that can increase your risk of colorectal cancer, no matter how you eat them. prepares,” warned Elizabeth Holmes, director of health policy at the Canadian Cancer Society.

“And then research shows that cooking those meats, poultry and fish at high temperatures, including barbecuing, can increase the risk of cancer. And that is essential, when the meat is cooked at that high temperature, carcinogenic substances are created.”

However, there are certain barbecuing habits that can reduce your risk of exposure to cancer-causing chemicals, such as marinating, choosing lean cuts of meat, and grilling at low temperatures.

The key, Holmes warned, is to keep the meat from burning. The resulting smoke and charred bits contain carcinogens that can increase the risk of cancer.

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HCAs are formed when amino acids, sugars, and creatine or creatinine (substances found in muscles) react at high temperatures, the NIH says on its website.

PAHs are created when fat and juices from meat are grilled directly over a heated surface or when an open flame drips onto the surface or fire, causing flames and smoke. The smoke contains PAHs that then stick to the meat surface. PAHs can also be formed during other food preparation processes, such as smoking meat.

The formation of HCAs and PAHs varies by type of meat, cooking method and level of doneness (rare, medium or well done), the NIH reports. Regardless of the meat, high temperature cooking methods such as grilling or pan frying (above 148 C) and longer cooking times generally lead to higher levels of these compounds.

For example, the NIH said that well-done grilled or barbecued chicken and steak are high in HCAs. Cooking methods that expose meat to smoke, such as grilling over an open flame, also contribute to the formation of PAHs.

This is what the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) says. is not enough evidence to demonstrate that grilled meat specifically increases the risk of cancer.

“But we do know that cooking meat at high temperatures – such as grilling – produces carcinogens…. These carcinogens can cause changes in DNA that can lead to cancer,” the AICR says on its website.

The Canadian Cancer Society recommends limiting red meat to three servings per week. A cooked serving is 3 ounces – smaller than a deck of cards.

The organization goes one step further and recommends avoiding processed meat altogether (or limiting it as much as possible). This includes ham, bacon, salami and hot dogs. Processed meat is meat that has been preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding preservatives. These preservation methods can lead to the formation of carcinogens.

But you don’t have to put the barbecue away yet.

Keith Warriner, a food safety professor at the University of Guelph, said unless you eat barbecue every day, you don’t have to worry too much.

“There is a link between these carcinogens in meat and barbecuing, the reality is that with barbecuing we can’t have barbecuing every day of the year. In many cases it’s only a week or two. So we don’t have to worry too much to do,” he said.

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The best way to protect yourself from carcinogens when grilling meat on the barbecue is to marinate it, Warriner said.

He recommends using a beer marinade if possible, as it has been proven to contain antioxidants that help prevent the formation of harmful compounds such as HCAs and PAHs.

A 2022 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that marinating with beer can significantly reduce PAH levels in grilled meat. The study found that black beer had the most significant effect.

“It comes down to marinating it with things that are high in antioxidants,” Warriner said. “What happens is you coat the meat, and these carbohydrates come in, it kind of neutralizes them.”

Add Honeyvinegar, oils, lemon juice And spices It has also been shown to help reduce the formation of carcinogens.

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To further reduce your exposure to HCAs and PAHs, consider partially pre-cooking your meat in the oven or microwave. The AICR said this reduces cooking time at high temperatures on the grill, minimizing the formation of these harmful chemicals.

Trimming the fat from your meat can also reduce flare-ups and charring, the AICR says.

“Choose lean cuts of meat to barbecue, and you can barbecue it slowly… not right on that high heat,” Holmes suggested, adding that instead of barbecuing meat, you can also try vegetables.

“So think of all the fruits and vegetables you can put on the grill and still have the fun of grilling and being outside.”

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