Last week the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center issued a press release titled “Keep Cancer off the BBQ Grill.” In it they offer a series of “tips” for reducing the risk of cancer—all related to eating and cooking meat (what a surprise). They boil down to (no pun intended) “it’s ok to grill but let’s cut out all the good stuff.” Complete no-nos on the list include hot dogs, sausages, pastrami, salami, pepperoni—you know, anything really good and, by the way—really ethnic. Poles, Italians, Russians, Greeks, Germans–your favorite meats are all definitely off the list. In fact, you people should be dropping dead from cancer like ants walking into an ant-trap. And, if you meat and potato Americans think you’re home free, try again. The press release also says to avoid red meat. So not only hot dogs but also hamburgers and juicy steaks are out. So that leaves chicken and fish, but even then, if you like your meat a little charred on the outside—well that also seems to be a confessable sin.
If after all this you continue to be irresponsible lout and expose yourself and your family to death from cancer or worse the folks at the MD Anderson Cancer Center give advise on how to at least reduce that risk with some grilling tips.
• Pre-cook food. Cook meat, poultry or fish in the microwave or oven for two to five minutes, then finish them on the grill. Less grill time means less exposure to cancer-causing chemicals.
• Lower the temperature. For a charcoal grill, spread the coals thinly or prop the grill rack on bricks. This reduces the heat by increasing the distance between your food and the coals. And, use barbecue briquettes and hardwood products, such as hickory and maple. They burn at lower temperatures than softwood (pine) chips.
• Scrub the grill. Cleaning the grill after each use prevents harmful chemicals from building up and transferring to your food.
Of course, their final piece of advice for all you potentially irresponsible dads out there “showcase fruits and vegetables.” Hey kids, let’s head over the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center this Sunday. No hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, or steaks but they’re having a great zucchini, onion, pineapple, and cherry tomato shish kabob. And don’t worry; the zucchini will not be charred on the outside.
Steve Milloy at JunkScience.com has the audacity to mention some inconvenient truths that the MD Anderson Cancer Center folks conveniently ignore.
There is, however, no evidence that any of these actions will have make any difference whatsoever to anyone in terms of cancer risk. Aside from the weak association epidemiology and dubious toxicology studies behind MD Anderson’s nonsense, there is no credible evidence that vegetarians are any healthier or experience less cancer than carnivores.
