A Guide to Safer Grilling
There are few things better than grilling your food outside during flip-flop season. But along with those enticing smells and tastes can come some health risks if you’re not careful. Here’s how to cook over open flame without burning your health.
Don’t Guess: Nothing will sour your appetite for outdoor cookery more than a bout of food poisoning, which peaks in the warmer months where bacteria can more easily flourish. To take the guesswork out of determining when meats are safe to eat to prevent foodborne illness without overcooking them, Caroline West Passerrello, MS, RDN, LDN advises using an instant read digital thermometer to ensure that they’ve reached a safe minimum internal temperature where harmful bacteria are killed. According to the USDA, hamburgers can turn brown prematurely, that is, before they reach the safe internal temperature. Grill cuts of meat like steak and pork chops to an internal temperature of at least 145°F, followed by a 3 minute rest time. Poultry should be prepared to 165°F, fish to 145°F, while all types of ground meat including beef and chicken need to be heated to 160°F. “You also have to be sure the food is handled properly during the grilling process,” says Passerrello. For instance, remember to use clean utensils and plates to remove cooked meat from the grill.
Handle Meat with Care: Cooking meat, especially red meat like hamburgers, at high temperatures such as what occurs during grilling can drive up the production of concerning chemicals including heterocyclic amines (HCAs), formed when amino acids and creatine (a natural compound in muscle meats) react at high temperatures, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)—two compounds linked to the increased risk for certain cancers like prostate, breast, and colorectal and possibly even type 2 diabetes. A few ways to limit your exposure is to not cook your proteins to the point where they char and avoid direct contact between flame and food. “Lining your grill with foil that has some holes poked into it can help prevent this,” notes Passerrello. Flipping meat often during grilling can also lessen the risk for charring. If you do char your meat, cut it away before eating. Cooking animal proteins for a long time generates more carcinogens, so try grilling smaller portions of meat so they cook faster and spend less time on the hot grill. For a larger cut of meat that takes longer to cook, partially precooking it in the microwave and then finishing it on the grill can eliminate some of the carcinogen production. Also trim away any excess fat before grilling. When fatty parts of meat melt and drip through the grill grates they generate smoke which increases the formation of cancer-promoting PAHs. Using leaner forms of ground meat when making burgers will also reduce the amount of meat drippings. Keep a squirt bottle of water handy to control flare ups. One study found a much greater formation of PAHs when food was cooked using charcoal briquettes compared with liquid propane gas.
Stand Back: In a study appearing in Environmental Science & Technology, scientists report that skin is a more important pathway for the uptake of carcinogenic compounds, including PAHs that are found in barbecue fumes, than is inhalation. They also found that clothing cannot fully protect individuals from this exposure. So to limit your exposure make sure not to linger around the smoky grill when you’re sizzling up a batch of burgers.
Flavor Your Food: Research has found that marinating pork in beer can cut the production of PAHs during grilling. It’s thought that the antioxidant-containing in beer act to keep meat safer. Passerrello notes that using other antioxidant containing items like red wine, orange juice, olive oil, chili pepper, and herbs in marinades likely will have the same impact. A longer marinating time means more antioxidants will be incorporated into meat’s muscle fibers. A marinade also acts as a barrier between meat and chemicals that are carried up by smoke during grilling. Dry rubs containing spices and herbs may also reduce carcinogen production. One study from the University of Arkansas showed that rosemary extract could reduce HCA levels ranging from 30 to
100 percent.
Fire-up Plants: Meat shouldn’t get all the live-fire love. To up the nutritional ante of your grilling feasts, try dropping plants on your grill grates more often. Everything from bell peppers to mushrooms to peaches to even tofu can benefit from getting some smoky essence. This will increase your intake of nutrients and antioxidants not found in meats. Bonus: Passerrello says that grilling plant-based foods produces no significant amounts of harmful chemicals like HCAs.
Clean up: Those charred bits of food stuck to your grill grates are laden with unhealthy chemicals that can be transferred to your next round of grilled chicken. So Passerrello stresses that they should be cleaned off prior to cooking. The best time to clean a grill grate is when it’s piping hot, so immediately after you have removed your food from the grill or following several minutes of preheating. Employ a long-handled brass bristle brush which allows you to clean the entire surface of your gunked-up grill grate without burning your fingers. Plus, a spotless grate goes a long way in preventing your dinner from sticking like cement and imbuing your food with an unappetizing burnt flavor.
—Matthew Kadey, MSc, RD
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