Three-quarters of American households own an outdoor barbecue grill. Before your next backyard barbecue, there are a few health concerns associated with grilled meat that you should be aware of. The health issues have to do with the charring of meat. Research has discovered two cancer-causing (carcinogenic) byproducts associated with the barbecuing of meat–including beef, poultry, lamb, pork, and fish. The first troublesome matter involves a well-known group of carcinogens called heterocyclic amines (HCAs).
HCAs occur when browning meat, whether it is cooked on an outdoor grill, in a hot frying pan, or broiling in the oven. HCAs form when high temperatures break down the amino acid creatinine, a chemical waste molecule generated from muscle metabolism.
