Kristen Anderson, Ph.D.
Kristen Anderson, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, led a study linking charred meat with pancreatic cancer.
Her group had previously studied the effects of compounds that form on red meat during high heat cooking.
208 cases of pancreatic cancer were observed in this later 9 year study, based on 62,581 people’s actual diets. The survey data were taken as a part of the PLCO (Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian) Multi-center Screening Trial.
The people in the study were divided into 5 groups depending on their preferences of how their meat was cooked. Almost all of the cases of pancreatic cancer occurred in the two groups who preferred their meat well done. Comparing the groups with the highest consumption of well cooked meat versus the lowest showed a 70% increase in pancreatic cancer incidence.
Frying, grilling, or barbecuing produces heterocyclic amines (HCA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These mutagens and carcinogens are formed in time- and temperature-dependent manners.
Baking, stewing or microwaving and pouring off juices before grilling reduce the precursors of these carcinogenic chemicals. Cooking longer over a lower heat also kills bacteria without forming carcinogens. Burned sections of meat should always be trimmed off.
With summer coming on, be aware that those barbecued steaks on the grill, as delicious as they may be, might result in pancreatic cancer.
