About that steak on the grill: Make it medium
By Seth Borenstein Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Grilled steaks are likely to join cigarettes, asbestos, DDT and arsenic on the federal government's long official list of substances suspected of causing cancer.
Chemicals that form when meat and poultry are cooked to the well-done stage are among 16 nominees on the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences' (NIEHS) latest roster of possible cancer causers released yesterday.
Other suspects added to the list include substances contained in some detergents, shampoos and perfumes, and radiation from flying in airplanes at high altitudes.
For the first time, they include three viruses linked to unprotected sex, lead used in smelting and battery making, and naphthalene, which is in moth balls and toilet-bowl deodorants.
Hundreds of studies have linked the meat chemicals to cancer, but the question is how much is dangerous and how much is safe.
"If you eat a lot of well-done cooked meat products you have higher risks of colon cancer, breast cancer and possibly prostate cancer," said Jim Felton, head of molecular and structural biology at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif.
"These things are bad," Felton said of the two chemicals, called heterocyclic amines or HCAs.
"The only good part is that they are there in very low concentrations."
Every two years, scientists nominate new candidates widely suspected of causing cancer to the National Toxicology Program. The program's staff trims it to the chief suspects, which are assessed by a panel of specialists for the next three years.
Their list of cancer causers and probable cancer causers now numbers 218.
Among the unresolved issues for all of the substances is how much of them might cause cancer. That's to be determined by researchers.
Drinking alcohol and sun tanning already are on the list of cancer causers.
"Anything that's fun tends to be hazardous to your health," conceded Christopher Portier, the NIEHS director of environmental toxicology.
The list does not restrict a chemical's use or require warning labels - except in California, which has a labeling law - but is used to educate the public and regulators about cancer risks.
The HCAs in well-done meat, called MeIQ and PhiP, are created when the muscle in meat is grilled, broiled or pan-fried to high temperatures - around 400 degrees, according to the National Cancer Institute.
But meat sliced thin and cooked quickly - including fish and all fast-food hamburgers - is safe, Felton said.
Critics, including Gilbert Ross, medical director of the American Council on Science and Health, a New York nonprofit organization that downplays environmental risks, say the list scares people about "the wrong things."
Ross, who says the government should spend its time attacking cigarettes, says that "what this list does is distract the public rather than educate the public in any reasonable way."
A National Cancer Institute study found that people who consume well-done grilled beef were more likely to get stomach cancer than those who ate it rare or medium rare.
Scientists recently observed potentially harmful mutations that HCAs cause in the basic building blocks of human breast and colon cells.
Elizabeth Snyderwine, chief of chemical carcinogenesis at the National Cancer Institute, said adding HCAs to the cancer list "is something that needs to be done."
But even scientists aren't giving up their grills.
Felton grills once or twice a week, he said.
He and others advocate cooking at lower temperatures, using marinades, wrapping meats in tin foil and microwaving food first.
The key is to avoid charring, said health scientists - and Betty Hughes, spokeswoman for Weber-Stephen Products of Palatine, Ill., a leading U.S. grillmaker.
Grilling safely You can grill meat and poultry safely and lessen the risk of getting cancer, say scientists. Grilling vegetables, fruit, tofu and veggie burgers is safe. Here are some tips for safe grilling:
Avoid burned or charred meat.
Cook at lower temperatures, generally lower than 400 degrees, but be careful not to undercook because of the threat of deadly bacteria salmonella and E. Coli.
Cut meat thin and grill it quickly to limit exposure to heat.
Microwave meat a minute or two before grilling.
Liquids help. Marinades keep temperatures down. One laboratory recommends a marinade of brown sugar, garlic cloves, salt, mustard, cider vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil. The proportions don't matter as much as the liquid-cooling properties. Also, grill to the side or just off of high heat.
Use the lid on the grill to reduce temperatures, prevent flare-ups.
Wrapping in aluminum foil helps.