Fire up that Bar-B-Q! But be careful what you may be cooking up

Anchor lead:

Summer is in full swing and that means a lot of backyard Bar-B-Q's. But before you fire up the grill, make sure a good meal is all you're cooking up. (Name of Reporter) tells us the way you barbecue could be hazardous to your health.

Script:

(Optional Nats grilling)

Track:

The sound of meat sizzling on the grill…it can really tempt your taste buds. But all that barbecuing could be cooking up chemicals that may raise your risk of breast, stomach, and colon cancer. But Stephanie Vangsness (vangs-NESS / rhymes with bangs), a nutritionist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, says that doesn't mean you have to give up those summer time favorites like burgers, steaks, and ribs.

Soundbite:

(Stephanie Vangsness, DFCI Nutritionist)
MP3 "Perspective"
It's important to put this risk into perspective. Summer grilling is a very safe thing to do as long as you are following some safety tips and rounding out your plate with colorful plant based foods, like vegetables.

Track:

(Optional Nats)
Vangsness says you need to watch out for two things.
First, the high heat of grilling reacts with proteins in red meat, poultry, and fish to create heterocyclic amines (heter-o-sigh-click A-meens) or, H-C-As. These have been linked to cancer. Second, all that smoke coming from the grill contains cancer-causing agents, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pol-EE-sigh-click air-o-ma-tic high-dro-carbons), P-A-H's. They can deposit on the surface of the meat.

Soundbite:

(Stephanie Vangsness, DFCI Nutritionist)
MP3 "Smoke"
Smoke that is created in the grilling process is where most of the cancer causing compounds form. So in order to be safe about summer grilling you want to reduce the exposure to that smoke.

Track:

That means – eliminating fat and juices that can drip down onto hot coals and create flare ups.

Soundbite:

(Stephanie Vangsness, DFCI Nutritionist)
MP3 "Three Things"
Three things you can do to reduce your cancer risk in grilling are microwave meat fish or chicken for 60 to 90 seconds before you put it on the grill, Use a marinade that contains lemon juice or vinegar and avoid over cooking or charring foods.

Also try:

Vangsness also recommends trimming all excess fat and removing skin, flipping burgers every minute, choosing smaller cuts, like kabobs, which take less time to cook, and – grilling up some vegetables.

Soundbite:

(Stephanie Vangsness, DFCI Nutritionist)
MP3 "Veggies"
Grilling vegetables is a safe alternative because they do not contain fat and protein that can drip down onto the surface of the grill and create cancerous compounds.