BBQ Linked to Cancer?

I've read a few online articles today regarding a John's Hopkins study regarding the link between meat cooked at high temperatures and cancer. I tried to locate a copy of the study directly from John's Hopkins via their web site, but so far have not been successful. Apparently the study was presented recently at a gathering of the American Cancer Society.

The articles referencing the study published by New York Post and ABC News (and many others) via the web, refer to "cooking meat at high temperatures" and refer to "meat that is charred" as "bbq".

I've read similar articles in the past referencing similar health issues associated with eating overcooked meat, but most of them reference "eating meat that is charred" and methods of cooking that I associate more closely with grilling than with slow-cooked barbecue.

As with most things, if done in excess or taken to extremes, there are risks associated with them. Drinking too much alcohol, smoking cigarettes, not eating a balance diet, listening to loud music with head phones, staring at a computer for hours and hours at work every day, and on and on and on...are associated with negative health risks. In my own experience, there aren't very many things that don't have harmful side effects.

Given enough time, I suspect that I could locate research on just about anything that associates it with cancer.

But, a word to the wise for those that haven't yet experienced the joys of slow-cooked bbq...don't eat burnt meat that is cooked at high temperatures with a lot of charred fat on it. It's probably not good for you.

I know one thing for sure....you won't catch me eating stuff like that. It probably doesn't taste good either.