The public will "learn" that barbecue causes cancer.  Later in the story, after some technical scientific explanation, the story continues, 

But meat sliced thin and cooked quickly -- including fish and all fast food hamburgers -- is safe, Felton said.  (Emphasis added.)  Id.

These and similar statements mislead and misinform the public into believing:

• Eating something called barbecue is unsafe.
• Eating fast-food charred hamburgers is safe.
• Ergo, cooking meat "low ' slow" is unsafe but charring it is safe. 

Action the Q'munity should take

The barbecue community (Q'munity) can and should take action to minimize the damage being caused to barbecue's reputation by inaccurate reports in the media.

Reasons that the Q'munity must respond

The barbecue community and virtually all of the barbecue organizations, including the Southern California Barbecue Association, want to help preserve and spread the knowledge and appreciation of real barbecue.  They want to educate the public about authentic American barbecue, its origin and methods.

Contemporary culture and the media do not understand authentic barbecue.  Barbecuing a beef brisket requires 12 or more hours, which is far too slow in a culture which values fast food and 10-minute cooking techniques.

However, as the culture begins to value both the quality of food and its shared cultural history, barbecue should become more appreciated by society.  Certainly, a very small percentage of the public has ever tasted real barbecue (Tony Roma's and McRibs notwithstanding), and when people try barbecue for the first time, they are hooked for life on its tender, smoky taste.  Furthermore, when they learn that barbecue is the only authentic American cuisine, taught by Native Americans to the Spanish explorers in the 1490s, they value the cooking method that much more.

Nothing would hurt the appreciation of real barbecue more than the public's belief that barbecue is dangerous and risky.  It is a fact of modern life that the media equate barbecue and grilling, and it is the job of the Q'munity to educate the public on the difference between barbecue and grilling.

Now that the government is considering adding grilled meat to the list of carcinogens, it is important for the Q'munity to act now to prevent the public at large from equating barbecue and cancer.

Official Comment

Notice of the two cooking-related nominations and a request for public comment have been published in the Federal Register.  The barbecue community should take advantage of the opportunity to comment.  Comments should request that, if the NTA decides to includes these two HCAs in the list of carcinogens, the listing clearly differentiate between barbecue and grilling.  In particular, the report should define authentic barbecue and should encourage barbecue as opposed to grilling and other high-temperature cooking methods.

All public comments must be made before September 24, 2001.

The Southern California Barbecue Association will make its website available to the Q'munity to coordinate comments.  This website will include the text of official comments and will give due credit to those members of the Q'munity who help in this regard.

The request for public comment says, in part:

The NTP solicits public input on these [two HCAs] and asks for relevant information concerning their carcinogenesis, as well as current production data, use patterns, or human exposure information.  The NTP also invites interested parties to identify any scientific issues related to the listing of a specific nomination in the RoC that they feel should be addressed during the reviews.  Comments . . . will be accepted through September 24, 2001.  Individuals submitting public comments are asked to include relevant contact information (name, affiliation (if any), address, telephone, fax, and email).  Comments or questions should be directed to Dr. C. W. Jameson at [the address below].  Id.

Comments should be sent to Dr. Jameson at the following addresses: 

Dr. C. W. Jameson
National Toxicology Program
Report on Carcinogens
79 Alexander Drive, Building 4401, Room 3118
P.O. Box 12233
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919) 541-4096
Fax: (919) 541-0144
Email: jameson@NIEHS.nih.gov

Please write your own comments and send them by postal mail, fax or email.  Here is a text of the email message sent by the author, which you may use as a guide:

Regarding the inclusion of HCAs in the NTP Report on Carcinogens

Dr. Jameson,

I am a member of the Southern California Barbecue Association, the Kansas City Barbeque Society, and other national organizations which promote the understanding and appreciation of authentic American barbecue.  I live in California's 36th Congressional District and am represented by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Barbara Boxer, and Congresswoman Jane Harmon.  I am writing to express my concern that "human exposure information" regarding HCAs has been misreported.

At the request of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and of Dr. Takashi Sugimura, President Emeritus, National Cancer Center of Japan, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) is considering the nomination of two heterocyclic amines (HCAs) to the Report on Carcinogens.  These HCAs are formed during high-temperature cooking (such as grilling and frying), are found in cooked meat muscle (and apparently not in ground meat, like hamburger), and may be human carcinogens. 

My concern lies with the description of the exposure and formation of HCAs, because scientists, the government and the media equate barbecue with grilling.  Human exposure to these HCAs and their formation are described in press accounts as occurring "from barbecue".  See, for example, the story in the Houston Chronicle of July 25, 2001, written by Seth Borenstein, which begins, "Barbecuers beware -- the latest item on the government's list of substances suspected of causing cancer is grilled meats."  This and similar reports warn the public against "barbecue" but assure the public that charred hamburgers are safe.  From these accounts, the public is likely to conclude, incorrectly, that barbecue is risky but charred meat is safe, including hamburgers and even steak, since "if charred hamburger is safe, then charred steak must also be safe".

The fact is that barbecue and grilling are very different and virtually opposite cooking methods.  

Barbecue is a very ancient method of slow cooking meat at low temperatures over wood coals.  Five hundred years ago in pre-Columbian America, meat was cooked slowly at a low temperature to smoke, dry, tenderize and preserve it.  The method was taught by Native Americans to the earliest Spanish explorers around 1495.  Even the word "barbecue" is itself a Native American word, from the Taino people of the Caribbean.  Our first President, George Washington, wrote about his enjoyment of barbecue, which referred to an all-day celebration, including slowly cooking meat.  Barbecue requires a low temperature -- around 212F, the boiling point of water -- and a slow cooking process over wood coals.  It is described best as "low 'n slow".

Grilling, on the other hand, is a relatively new method of fast cooking at high temperatures, above 400F and often above 900F.  It is a relatively new cooking method, because grilling requires tender cuts of meat, which became available only in the last century.  Grilled steaks and hamburgers are not barbecued but grilled.

Because barbecue cooking requires many hours of slow cooking at low temperatures (in the range of 200F to 250F) from wood and wood coals, few members of the general public have ever tasted real barbecue.  Instead, they believe that MacDonald's grilled McRibs and Tony Roma's grilled baby back ribs are barbecue.

If our government and media do not educate the public and clearly explain the difference between barbecue and grilling, then the public will be continue to be confused.  In the case of these nominated HCAs, such confusion may lead tens of thousands of Americans to conclude incorrectly that barbecue is dangerous but grilling is safe.  As in the Houston Chronicle story, described above, people may come to believe that meat barbecued at low temperatures is dangerous, because it is "barbecued", yet meat charred at high temperatures is safe, because grilled ground meat (like hamburgers) contain few or no HCAs.  

On behalf of those who know and love authentic American barbecue, I respectfully request that you use your good offices to ensure that any findings with respect to HCAs as carcinogens clearly state that HCAs are formed during the process of grilling meat and not during the process of barbecuing meat.  Please use your best efforts to ensure that the media and public at large understand the fact that real barbecue, the only authentic American cuisine which was taught by our Native American ancestors, is a safe alternative to grilling.

Thank you for your assistance in this important matter.

With best regards, 

Joe O'Connell
joe@cbbqa.com 

Copies of this email were sent to Senator Feinstein, Senator Boxer, Representative Harmon, and Dr. Takashi Sugimura.

Members of the Q'munity are encouraged to sent their own comments to Dr. Jameson, the President, their Senators and their Representative.  If a copy is sent to the Association, it will be posted on the website and included in a database of comments.

Letters to the editor

Letters to the editor (and to television and online media) are similarly effective in raising the awareness of the public that:

• Barbecue is an ancient cooking method that requires low temperatures and long cooking times.
• Grilling is a new cooking method that requires high temperatures and short cooking times.
• Barbecue is not grilling.
• Grilled meat may contain carcinogenic compounds (HCAs).
• Barbecue meat is safe and contains no carcinogens.

Members of the Q'munity should send letters, faxes and email to correct stories that equate barbecue with grilling.  The media will change their stories, and the public will come to know and appreciate real barbecue.

Conclusion

Scientists have evidence that the cooking method known as grilling (cooking at high temperatures over direct heat) produces carcinogens in charred meat muscle.  There is no evidence that carcinogens are produced when grilling fish or ground meat, and there is no evidence that carcinogens are produced with the cooking method known as barbecue.