‘Muscle meats’ pre-cooked in a microwave oven for two minutes before being (e.g.) fried, roasted or barbecued contain very much lower levels of heterocyclic amine (HCA) chemicals than muscle meat cooked at high temperature from scratch. So far seventeen different HCAs have been linked to raised cancer risk. It is thought to achieve this by removing substances in muscle (creatine, creatinine, amino acids and glucose) which react to high temperature by creating HCAs.

In addition, if the liquid which leaches from the meat during microwaving is poured off before further cooking, the final quantity of HCAs is reduced still further.

Research includes:

• Researchers compared the diets and cooking habits of 176 people diagnosed with stomach cancer and 503 people without stomach cancer. They found that those who ate their beef medium-well or well- done had had more than three times the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate their beef rare or medium-rare. They also found that people who had eaten beef four or more times a week on average had developed more than twice the risk of stomach cancer than those who had consumed beef less frequently.

Additional studies have shown that an increased risk of developing colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancer is associated with high intakes of well-done, fried, or barbecued meats:

• A study conducted by researchers from NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics found a link between individuals with stomach cancer and the consumption of cooked meats
• Stewing, boiling, or poaching done at or below 100oC created negligible amounts of HCAs. Cooking muscle meat at 200oC produced three times as many HCAs as cooking it at 250oC). Meats cooked for a long time (e.g. well-done instead of medium) produced slightly more of the chemicals