Carcinogens are chemicals that can produce cancer in human. The following are some carcinogens that can be found in fast food.
1. Acrylamide
According to new laboratory tests commissioned by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), popular American fast foods contain high level of acrylamide that can cause several cancers. Acrylamide is normally found in starchy foods cooked during high temperature boiling or frying such as French fries, potato chips, and fried chicken (?carcinogens in French fries,? 2002, para. 3). CSPI tested the amount of acrylamide in food, micrograms per serving, and it showed that a large size of French fries contains 39 to 72 micrograms, which is the highest level of acrylamide among the other foods. Apart from French fries, another high level of acrylamide has been found in potato wedges as well (?New Tests Confirm Acrylamide in American Foods,? 2002, para. 1 ? 4).
2. Heterocyclic Amines (HCAs)
Heterocyclic Amines are the cancer-causing compounds (?Restaurant Meats Higher In Suspected carcinogens,? 2002, para. 2) often found in processed meats during high temperature cooking like bologna, smoked sausage, and beef hamburger (Raloff, 1998, para. 3) Besides, the researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) found that people who eat beef four or more times a week have more than twice the risk of stomach cancer than those who consume beef less frequently. There are four factors influenced HCAs formation: type of food, cooking method, temperature, and time. Temperature is the most significant factor in the formation of HCAs. Frying and broiling produce the largest amount of HCAs since meats are cooked at very high temperature. Yet, it is fortunate that a study from NCI has evaluated the quantity of HCAs in fast food restaurants since after evaluating the meat products from various fast food restaurant chains, the study pointed out that there are low levels of HCAs found in fast food meat products because of the factors such as cooking temperature and time (?Heterocyclic Amines in Cooked Meats,? 2002, para. 6).
3. Nitrate and Nitrite
Sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate are two closely related chemicals used to prepare meats and to produce special smell and good taste like ham, bacon, and sausage (Boonyahotra, 1995, p. 103). Nitrate itself is harmless; however, it can be changed to nitrite during the cooking process. And then, when nitrite combines with other compounds, it becomes nitrosamines that can cause stomach cancer (?Risks and Causes,? 2002, para. 3). Amazingly, there are not only nitrosamines in sausage, fried bacon, and ham, but also in cheese! A scientist, Kroller, claimed to have found nitrosamines in cheese because some types of cheese are preserved with nitrate (Searle, 1976, p. 711).
4. Fat
Fat is now likely to be related with the cause of cancer (David & Alan, 1983, p. 138). A study conducted by the University of Iowa has shown that women who regularly eat large amounts of fat and protein like red meat, especially hamburger, can have a cancer of lymph system due to dioxins in the meat (Thomas, 2002, para. 10 - 12). Furthermore, if we eat too much food high in fat, it can make the blood and lymph system worse since there will be a lot of fats attached to the veins. Because of this, lung and kidney will be first affected, and the function of blood system will work less efficiently. Also, this affects the lymph system, too (Boonyahotra, 1995, p.26 - 27). According to the amounts of calories from fat study, it showed that cheese, bacon, doughnut, hot dog, and mayonnaise have very high percentage of calories from fat. Especially, mayonnaise has the highest percentage (99 %) (Watson & Mufti, 1995, p. 21).
5. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
This group of chemicals contains some most powerful carcinogens that pose human cancer risk. PAHs usually occur when fat drips into fire, and smoke and flames that rise up onto food often leave PAHs (Thomas, 2002, para. 16). A study of PAHs in foods found that margarine, mayonnaise, smoked ham, and cooked sausage, the main ingredients of fast food, have high PAHs, especially cooked sausage (17.5 ? 26.2 ppb.1) (Searle, 1976, p. 706). Moreover, in cooked food, the higher the fat contains, the greater the amount of PAHs is found after broiling. Hence, a hamburger with a high fat content contained about 43 ppb. from total PAHs (Searle, 1976, p. 708). The National Cancer Institute indicated that a diet high in meat cooked by grilling or pan-frying might increase the risk of stomach, colon, and rectal cancer (Thomas, 2002, para. 16).
