Give me a burger but hold the guilt and fear
Cats: slack woman|The killjoys are at it again. (Go here for extended rant on this subject.) Just when we’re staggering out of another long, cold, dark winter, they start warning us that barbequing is BAAAAD. The high temperatures release TOXINS that are ABSORBED into our bodies and increase the RISK of LIFE-THREATENING diseases which could lead to DEATH!
But of course if you read the fine print of the studies it turns out that you have to consume an excessive amount of barbeque food in order for the toxins to be a problem. And problems occur later in life, when the risk of death increases anyway.
Interesting statistic: The risk of death is 100% for virtually everyone, whether barbeque eaters or not.
Why can’t they concentrate their efforts on the really dangerous things like smoking or eating rat poison and leave us to a few earthly summer pleasures? Give me my barbequed burger but hold the guilt and fear please.
May 4th, 2007 at 3:13 am
Yes, and when I heard them describing a convoluted acronym of substances created by barbecuing as “A.G.E.” compounds, I realised that this was far more about P.R. and self promotion by the researcher, than good science…
May 4th, 2007 at 5:39 am
If I could barbecue a burger in Pepsi and smother it with chocolate sauce, I would.
May 4th, 2007 at 6:58 am
I think we should barbeque in honour of our ancestors. The cooking of meat over coals has a long history, and most of us would not be here today if it weren’t for this advancement in meat preparation.
Fat kills.
Salt kills.
Pleasure kills.
May 4th, 2007 at 11:33 am
1) Life Kills.
2) Life is a sexually transmitted disease, which is invariably, 100% fatal.
May 4th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
You took the acronym right out of my mouth TB.
I thought the exact same thing when I saw the curiously self-interested A.G.E acronym. The authors are gerontologists after all. It make you wonder how much of the “science” we read about in the papers isn’t pitched to garner as much public notice/fear/outrage as possible so governments will fund more such studies and so the circle goes.
May 10th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Well, I can only speak for the Cancer related stuff, in which area I would say 90% plus of what we see in the paper is pitched for that purpose, more if inflating share prices was included.
May 10th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Oh come now, TagBagger, do you mean the drug companies are actually useing guilt and fear to sell their drugs? I thought drug companies were all about keeping us healthy and happy, not drugged up so they can fatten their pockets…