Why Is Burnt (burned) Food Bad For You?

As with most aspects of food and drink, anything is bad for you in excess. There are lots of scares in the media that suggest burnt food can cause types of cancers. While there may be a link, the odd burnt burger or chip is not going to cause that much damage. Burning food can rid it of some of its vital nutrients. If you are trying to eat healthily then you should avoid burning food where possible so that you get the most goodness possible from your meals. The biggest concern made about burnt food is the increased levels of carcinogens. These are any substances, radiation or radionuclides that can cause cancer. There is evidence to suggest that burning food or cooking food at high temperatures, can lead to the formation of minute quantities of potent carcinogens. These carcignons are comparable to those that are found in cigarette smoke. Further to this, charring food resembles coking and tobacco pyrolysis and produces similar carcinogens. There have been reports from the Food Standards Agency that have found the known animal carcinogen acrylamide is generated in carbohydrate foods that are fried or burnt. The studies to discover any potential risk to humans are ones that are still underway at the FDA and European regulatory agencies.

While this information makes burnt food sound very unsafe, it is still something that can be eaten in moderation. Meat eaters should avoid regularly eating burnt or barbecued meat, especially If it cooked at a high temperature for a long time. The research for finding carcinogens in burnt vegetables is less clear cut but again it should be avoided on a regular basis. While the carcinogens found in burnt food resemble those that are found in cigarette smoke, they are nowhere near as harmful. While eating burnt food in excess may have a slight risk of being harmful, it is not something to be overly worried about.

First of all, it destroys virtal nutrients. Most food should be cooked just enough to make it palatable and easy to digest (if that much). Any extra cooking doesn't add to the taste (it can be argued) but does destroy the most fragile vitamins.

More importantly, the more cooked a food is, the higher the concentration of carcinogens init, especially acrylamides. Acrylamides are formed in cooked carbohydrate-rich foods like bread, potatoes and pasta. Acrylamides are classified as probable carcinogens, and are known (in high enough concentrations) to cause tumours in laboratory animals. Acrylamides are created when the carbohydrates are heated. The hotter the food is cooked or the browner the food turns out, the more acrylamides in it.

It would be impossible to completely avoid acrylamides if you still want some bread and potatoes in your diet, but you can minimise them by minimising fried foods and how long you toast your bread for.

Burnt meats aren't much better. The amino acids in the proteins can change chemically into pre-carcinogenic forms. Similar things can happen to coffee from the process of roasting the beans.

Burnt food is bad for your health, you easily get cancer or infections if you do have over the amount. Many people like burnt toast, burnt pizza which are crispy and hard but we can't stop that.Scientist believe that we not eat burnt food as they say are bad like cigarette.