A Comprehensive Review on the Formation of Carcinogens from Food Products with Respect to Different Cooking Methods

Abstract

It has been seen that the majority of carcinogens are formed depending upon the cooking and processing conditions employed which influences their magnitude to adversely affect the food products. High heat, marination, roasting, frying, grilling etc. can significantly affect the household food products. The most frequently occurring carcinogens are Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA), Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), N-Nitrosamines (NA), Acrylamide (AA) and aflatoxins. These agents are found in variety of food sources due to unhealthy processing conditions such as marinated pork dishes, chicken drumsticks, grilled chicken, smoked chicken and fish preparations, potato chips, sausages, soy sauce etc. Apart from these, marketed cooking oils of various grades, synthetic antioxidants and regular high consumption of coffee can remarkably increase the risk of causing cancer. Therefore, an appropriate knowledge and awareness in context to some harmful processing conditions must be taken into consideration before consuming the final food product. This review aims to summarize the major carcinogens from food with evidences, the mechanism of formation, carcinogenic action and ways to reduce the level of these carcinogens from food.