Foods mutagens, various cooking

Amines are not only toxic themselves, but can change in toxic V-nitrosamines, potentially carcinogenic substances giving a wide variety of tumors in many animals, or form adducts with proteins and DNA." Most analyzed amines are allergens. Many others, including heterocyclic amines, have been proved to be mutagenic and carcinogenic. Many of these compounds have been isolated and identified not only from various proteinaceous foods, such as cooked meats and fish, but also from environmental components, such as outdoor air, indoor air, diesel-exhaust particles,... 

Until now more than 25 HCAs have been characterized as potent mutagens in the AmesISalmonella assay [7,12-14]. Figure 7.1 displays the HCAs structures and abbreviated names. Many of these mutagenic HCAs have been isolated and identified not only from various proteinaceous foods such as cooked meat and fish [7,15], but also from environmental components, for instance, airborne particles and diesel exhaust particles [16], river water [17], and mainstream cigarette smoke [18]. 

From the results of this initial survey it became obvious that mutagenicity of protein-rich food was related to the type of food and degree of cooking. In order to study the effect of cooking in more detail and to determine the contribution of major meat constituents to mutagenicity of heated samples/ ground beef patties or reconstituted samples were fried for various times at one or a series of temperatures on stainless steel or other cooking surfaces ). 

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