WHAT CAUSES CARCINOGENS?
Other carcinogens called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed when animal fat drips on an open flame or red-hot coals and makes smoke. The smoke then comes in contact with the meat, and you eat it. (Smoked meat has these same carcinogens, by the way.) HOW MUCH GRILLING IS DANGEROUS? Judging from animal research and human population studies, we believe HCAs and PAHs increase your risk of various cancers. They do this by damaging DNA. But we don’t know how much is too much. One guideline to consider is from the American Institute for Cancer Research. They say red meat, such as beef, pork and lamb, increases the risk of colon cancer, so they recommend eating no more than 18 ounces a week. (Two to three ounces is about the size of a deck of cards.) Following this standard might decrease the amount of carcinogen-containing meat you eat by default. In fact, some researchers suspect HCAs and PAHs may be partly responsible for the increased colon-cancer risk anyway.
