Hellobee Boards

Yes, I have heard this and I try to avoid food that is too charred because of the carcinogens!

I've heard that. My mom always burnt my food so I've learned to love it. But I do avoid giving LO burnt food.....

I heard about it when I was in Korea. The sweet old aunties would scrape off my BBQ for me

Yes, I learned about this in a nutrition class in college. It's not for anyone to "buy" or not--it's a scientific fact.

@DigAPony: Its based on a danish study that tried to assess womens diets based on self reporting and they considered stuff like potato chips and french fries to be charred food. Its quite far from scientific fact. There'd have to be more substantial evidence for me to take it seriously, though I agree that eating lots of potato chips and french fries prob have negative health effects.

Yeah, it is scary to consume burnt food, especially when you have family members who have cancer. I'd say just eat all things in moderation.

Yep, I actually learned this in biochemistry. But unless that's all you eat, I think you'll be ok.

@Maysprout: I'm not sure what study you're referring to.

I pulled out my old nutrition textbook, which says: "Smoke generated from burning wood or charcoal, like smoke from burning tobacco, contains a multitude of chemical substances, some of which initiate cancer. Some carcinogens from smoke settle on food during cooking; others form when meat fats or added oils land on the coals and then vaporize, creating carcinogens that rise and stick to the food. Just the process of browning foods triggers chemical changes among the sugars and amino acids of foods such as steak that are typically seared in cooking. These changes often improve the flavor, aroma, and appearance of foods, but they may also create carcinogens." (415, Nutrition: Concepts & Controversies, 9th ed., by Sizer & Whitney.)

The study the text cites to support this information is: "B.C. Pence and coauthors, Feeding of a well-cooked beef diet containing a high heterocyclic amine content enhances colon and stomach carcinogenesis in 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-treated rats, Nutrition and Caner 30 (1998): 220-226."

The text recommends lining grills with foil, or wrapping food in foil before grilling, to minimize the formation of carcinogenic compounds. I think the bottom line is that it's nearly impossible to completely avoid anything that may cause cancer, so the everything in moderation rule is a good one to follow.

@DigAPony: Theoretically there's carcinogens in most foods but the studies looking at the actual effects of burnt food have not yielded much. Most studies have found no link to human cancers, but this one danish study did find a link to ovarian cancer. But the same chemicals that they're worried about are also found in coffee because of the roasting process but coffee seems to have no effect or decrease the risk. So I think it's more theoretical hype then real risk.

I rarely eat anything charred (1x a month, if even) mainly because I don't like the burnt taste, but I don't go out of my way to avoid it. I would imagine that you would have to eat a lot of burnt stuff for it to really cause cancer??