Many people like to barbecue in the summer, but cooking food on a grill has potential health dangers.
Good news: You can relax and enjoy barbecued food safely if you take a few steps to protect yourself.
What to avoid: Grilling foods at very high heat or for long periods of time can create carcinogenic (cancer-causing) compounds. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed when any food, including meats and vegetables, is charred. Don’t cook your food to a charred crisp, and do scrape off any part that is blackened. Cook animal foods, such as fish, meat or poultry, thoroughly but on the lowest heat and for the shortest time possible to avoid a chemical reaction that can take place inside the meat that creates carcinogenic heterocyclic amines (HCAs). There is no single temperature or cooking time at which HCAs form. What you need to know…
Before you cook on the grill…
Use marinade.Research has shown that marinating meats (such as pork, beef, fish or chicken) before cooking can reduce HCAs by as much as 70%. The benefit of marinating is that it increases the moisture content of the food, which prevents the chemical reaction in the fish or meat that produces carcinogens at high heats. Marinating for as little as 10 minutes is enough. Marinades with antioxidant-rich spices, such as hot pepper, allspice, sesame and ginger, are particularly protective, say University of Western Ontario researchers.Choose thinner cuts of meatbecause they don’t require as much cooking time.Trim the fat.This reduces the fat drippings, which decreases the flames that can char or blacken food.Partially cook meat, poultry or fish in the kitchen, then finish on the grill. This will cut down on the amount of time that the meat is on the grill but will give you enough time to get that grilled flavor.While cooking on the grill…
Cook lots of vegetables. They taste great… are full of antioxidants… and have no creatine, the chemical in meat that creates HCAs.Keep the flame and the heat low, and flip the food frequently (about every minute) to prevent overcooking on either side.
