Grilled meats: cancerous?

[sr71blackbird]

Doc, is burnt food bad for you? I am talking about if you have barbecued chicken and it has parts that got a little over cooked and turned black. I kind of like that stuff, and crispy onions and if I see other blackened food, I will eat it. But I heard somewhere that there is a carcinogen risk. Is that true? Is it a high risk? I am not talking about daily consumption either, maybe once every two weeks.

[Dr Steve]

Doc, is burnt food bad for you? I am talking about if you have barbecued chicken and it has parts that got a little over cooked and turned black. I kind of like that stuff, and crispy onions and if I see other blackened food, I will eat it. But I heard somewhere that there is a carcinogen risk. Is that true? Is it a high risk? I am not talking about daily consumption either, maybe once every two weeks.


Where this came from is the study of "nitrosamines" which are carcinogenic substances found in cured meats. Bacon is the big one, due to preservation with sodium nitrite. Since the discovery, sodium nitrite levels have been ratcheted way down in preserved meats. Apparently Vitamin C disrupts the nitrosamine pathway, so the addition of 550 ppm of ascorbic acid is now required in the manufacture of cured meat in the U.S.

Burning meat causes other carcinogens (genotoxins), like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic amines (HAs). The risk is theoretical, though, as I'm not aware of a study that conclusively links eating burnt meat with human tumors. HOWEVER, there is plenty of evidence that eating UNDERCOOKED meat is really bad for you, so I'll go with the burnt crispy-on-the-outside stuff every time.