Six Tips to Lower Your Exposure to Carcinogens from Your Grill

A release from Stoneham Safety Office Joseph Ponzo:

I have provided several articles with safety tips for protecting you and your family physically, so I
have decided to research some safety tips for protecting your health. With the grilling season
upon us, this is the perfect time to provide six tips for lowering your exposure to carcinogens from
your grill. According to WCVB Channel 5 News, these six tips are proven to reduce the exposure
to cancer causing agents.

The first is just to avoid eating anything that’s extremely charred. Secondly, the way to avoid
cooking charred food is simply to put the heat on low. Grilling is a high heat form of cooking and
the proteins inside react to this high heat. Use tin foil, this will prevent much of the carcinogen-
filled smoke from rising up and reaching your food. Use leaner meat; the leaner the meat, the
less fat, so the less smoke coming up to cause the issues. Any sort of lean meats like fish,
chicken, lean cuts of beef, will be helpful in reducing exposure to carcinogens.

Always eat in moderation, especially when grilling. Many meats contain high fat counts. Try and grill different types of fruits and vegetables for your family. Just about every fruit and vegetable can be grilled and is extremely healthy then cooking just meat. The most important tip that I can find is to ALWAYS CLEAN YOUR GRILL before cooking. The charred bits of blackened material that is left behind after cooking many meats trap smoke and potentially toxic chemicals. Of course it is
always important to understand that cleaning chemicals should never be used to clean the grill. An everyday wire brush with water or steam most always does the trick.

With these few tips in mind, you and your family can eat a safe and healthy meal.

Remember Safety First!