Backing Away From the Grill

Here are a few suggestions to reduce your risks in eating cooked meat:

* Minimize the amount of time the meat is cooked, or cooked at high temperatures, by eating beef rare or medium-rare rather than well-done and by limiting use of such high-temperature methods of cooking as grilling, broiling and frying.

* Microwave the meat first, before high-temperature cooking. The chemical precursors, like creatinine, come out in the fat and juice. Studies indicate that the amount of HAAs (heterocyclic aromatic amines) generated in subsequent cooking can thus be reduced by up to 90%.

* Use lean meat or trim the fat off meat that will be grilled, fried or broiled. Avoid making gravy from meat drippings.

John H. Weisburger, a researcher with the American Health Foundation in Valhalla, N.Y., has demonstrated that by mixing hamburger with 10% soy protein, one can lower the temperature at which meat cooks and block the formation of carcinogens.

Weisburger has also developed a gravy that he says contains inhibiting agents that can prevent the production of carcinogens. The gravy is not available commercially but Weisburger has recently taken out a patent on the product.

“I think we don’t need to outlaw barbecuing,” says Shirley Stensland, a nutrition consultant to the American Institute for Cancer Research. “But I think we can encourage once-a-month (use) or some kind of moderation.”

She added wistfully, “I wish someone would define moderation.”