Wednesday, May 14, 2014
A cautionary tale about grilling… by Jeanette Andrade MS, RDN, LDN
11:11 AM | 
Posted by
Kaplan Center for Health and Wellness
On a beautiful Saturday morning you wake up feeling happy for finally
there is a clear, sunny day; a perfect grilling day. You prepare your meat with
your favorite spices- garlic, onion powder, pepper, and a dash of salt. The
grill is already going and you cannot wait to eat this savory hamburger with a
side of fresh greens. You’re about to place the delicate meat onto the grill
when a voice inside your head yells out, “WAIT”. You pause as you want to hear
what is going to be said. The voice inside your head continues, “Don’t you
remember the news report about the dangers of grilling meat?” Your hopes dash
as you recall this news report. You gingerly place the meat back onto the plate
and rush inside your house to the computer. You open up your favorite search
engine site and type in, “Dangers of grilling meat.” There it is, the dreaded
report you wished never popped up. You scan the report and see, “grilling meats
at a high temperature create two chemical compounds: heterocyclic amines (HCAs)
and polycyclic aromatic carbons (PAHs)”(1) “NO,
how could this be?” You yell out. But you are intrigued, so continue reading.
You read that HCAs are formed when cooking meat at high temperatures such as on
the grill. They are found at the highest concentration in charred or burned
parts of the meat. Thus, when you eat the grilled meat, HCAs will be consumed
as well(1). PAHs are formed when juices from meat drip onto coals or other hot
surfaces and create smoke. Thus, you can obtain PAHs from breathing in these
fumes and eating the grilled meat(1). You find some positives to reduce the amount
of HCAs and PAHs from grilling such as cleaning the grill from leftover products
that were burned or charred, cutting off the pieces of meat you char or burn,
precooking foods prior to grilling, and placing a vinegar or lemon marinade on
the meat prior to cooking(1). You shake your head as even though these
techniques are good for reducing these chemicals, you still are not satisfied.
You bang your head on the computer, defeated as you are not going to enjoy your
meat. However, you have an idea. You scan the news report again and again. Yup,
it clearly says, “grilling vegetables and fruits are safer as they do not
produce these chemicals”(1). YES!! You
can finally use that portable mushroom sitting in your frig. The grilling day
is saved.
1)
Worth, T. (2010). How to make grilling safer. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/02/how.make.grilling.safe/
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