Carolyn Poirot, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Real men roast hot dogs, broil burgers and sear steaks over hot,
smoky grills in the good ol' summertime.
But they may not be doing you much of a favor when they assume
outdoor cooking chores. In fact, the man in your life may be making
you sick, the American Dietetic Association says.
Most men don't take care to follow all the proper grilling
guidelines to prevent food-borne illness, also known as food
poisoning, the association found in a recent survey of 565
households.
Men don't use meat thermometers. They don't wash their hands
during food preparation at a picnic site. They don't clean the
cooler with soap and water between uses.
What they do do is use the same tongs and turning forks for raw
and cooked foods, wiping them only with a paper towel between uses.
They leave leftovers out for snacking later, and carry coolers in
the trunks of their cars rather than in the air-conditioned
insides. All of these practices break food-safety rules.
Of course, women are guilty of the same offenses. But according
to the survey, men who cook outdoors are less careful than women.
And, men are more likely to be involved in outdoor food
preparation, where food safety is often thrown to the wind, says
Joan Horbiak, a registered dietitian and national spokeswoman for a
new three-year public-health initiative to raise consumer awareness
about home food safety.
``Even when evaluating their own summertime food-safety record,
most men (78 percent) give themselves an average or below-average
grade,'' Horbiak notes.
The new poll, sponsored jointly by the American Dietetic
Association and the ConAgra Foundation in conjunction with their
``Home Food Safety: It's in Your Hands'' campaign, found that more
education didn't mean more food-safety savvy, Horbiak says.
The dietetic association recommends four easy steps that go a
long way toward assuring food safety, no matter who's doing the
grilling:
-- Wash hands often.
-- Keep raw meats and ready-to-eat foods separate.
-- Cook meat to proper temperature.
-- Refrigerate promptly to below 40 degrees (most household
refrigerators are set for 40 degrees; it may not be enough to set
leftovers back into an ice chest where most of the ice has melted).
``Using a meat thermometer takes less than 20 seconds. It should
be an automatic habit -- like fastening your seat belt. Tell your
husband it's a grilling gadget. Guys love gadgets. Don't tell him
it's for safety. Tell him if he uses a meat thermometer, his burger
won't taste like a hockey puck,'' Horbiak advises.
If the bacteria don't get you, the charred edges might.
Undercooking meat has always been a concern in food safety, but
in recent years, overcooking -- especially burning and charring
meat, chicken and fish on the backyard grill -- is being linked to a
more long-term health threat.
Experts at the American Institute for Cancer Research have been
urging consumers to curb possible cancer risks by pre-cooking in a
microwave to reduce the time and temperature needed to grill meat,
removing any fat that may drip onto flames and cause flare-ups, and
using tongs to turn meat without piercing it, which also causes
flares.
Now, they say the most effective means to make grilling safer
may be a quick dose of marinade.
Even a brief bath in the simplest of marinades can impede the
formation of heterocyclic amines (HCAs), carcinogenic compounds
that normally result when meat is cooked at high temperatures,
particularly when it is charred, institute researchers say.
The heat of flame cooking causes creatine, a compound within
muscle meats, to react with amino acids and produce HCAs.
Exactly how marinating inhibits this process is not known, but
scientists believe the acidity in most marinades plays a large
role, says Melanie Polk, director of nutrition education for the
institute, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to exploring the link
between diet and cancer.
Most marinades combine an acidic component, such as lemon juice,
orange juice or vinegar, with herbs and onion, garlic or soy sauce.
(Traditional marinades also include oil, but many health-conscious
chefs leave it out to lower fat and create less smoke.)
In repeated trials, researchers marinated beef, pork, chicken
and fish for varying lengths of time prior to grilling. Using a
variety of standard recipes, they found that the marinated foods
had 92 percent to 99 percent fewer HCAs than their nonmarinated
counterparts. It made no difference whether they were marinated for
40 minutes or two days.
Polk says marinating should be done in a glass, plastic or
stainless-steel dish. She offers this recipe for a spicy chicken
marinade:
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons liquid honey
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced ginger root
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
