Carcinogens Formed When Meat is Cooked

Diet has been associated with varying cancer rates in human populations for many years, yet the causes of the observed variation in cancer patterns have not been adequately explained (Wynder et al., 1977). Along with the effect of diet on human cancer incidence is the strong evidence that mutations are the initiating events in the cancer process (Vogelstein et al., 1992). Foods, when heated, are a good source of genotoxic carcinogens that very likely are a cause for some of these events (Doll et al., 1981). These carcinogens fall into two chemical classes: heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). There is ample evidence that many of these compounds are complete carcinogens in rodents (ElBayoumy et al., 1995; Ohgaki et al., 1991).