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Scientists develop gene-edited wheat that can make toasted bread less carcinogenic
(www.theguardian.com)
I think I'm losing my edge
this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2026
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More worried about charring processed meat than toast. I don’t eat charred toast. I’ll eat charred hot dogs.
On top of everything it turns out fucking TOAST is trying to give me cancer?
Fuck this gay earth
Burnt shit causes cancer. Toasting can burn toast.
My not a scientist understanding is basically the general process of cooking makes things more carcinogenic but it's not by like a lot, unless you're charring the outside of a steak into carbon
cooking at temps high enough to burn food, yes. lower temp cooking like boiling or steaming does not burn food.
If you're burning a steak that bad, you deserve the cancer.
My favorite way to cook a steak is to cut crosshatches, pack it with pepper and salt, char the living fuck out of the outside, keep it basically raw in the middle. You can make a solid crust without overcooking it
Meaty Meats
Ah yes, the thing I’m most concerned about giving me cancer: toast.
Not the microplastics, environmental pollution or stress of living in the collapse of modern civilization 🫠 /s
I know you're joking, but we can make progress on multiple fronts simultaneously.
Welcome to Costco, I love you.
importantly, from that link:
"Overall, studies on acrylamide and cancer in humans show that the amounts of acrylamide we consume probably doesn’t increase the risk of cancer significantly. If you have a healthy, balanced diet rich in vegetables, fruit, pulses (such chickpeas) and wholegrains (such as brown rice), the amount of acrylamide you eat will be small."
So cooking food, the basis of our entire species, also gives us cancer. Fucking great.
Breathing in oxygen causes oxidative stress, hence antioxidants
Note that many things called antioxidants (e.g. whats in some fruits) are actually oxidizing but trigger your body's own antioxidant production mechanisms
But notice they also said there is no evidence toast makes a measurable contribution to this, so toast all you want.
Or what I really got out of it was
- don’t burn your toast
- don’t burn your potatoes
- eat fewer chips
This is good advice in general though
We have to toast them or we'll dyyyy
Damn, this site has some good looking recipes
https://www.wcrf.org/living-well/eating-well/recipes/pumpkin-soup/
Does it make the bread taste like shit? Because I don't give a fuck about toast carcinogens but if we're forced to accept safer bread that tastes weird I'm not buying it. Like that god awful Iron kids bread. Only people who hate children could conceive such a product.
Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency. So I would not call people trying to reduce that kid-hating.
I think I’d rather just risk it with normal bread. The additives and preservatives are probably worse for me than the toasty bits.
Just stop setting your normal bread on fire...
Ofcourse "normal" bread is already a chemically laden substance in the US, no wonder its extra carcinogenic when toasted.
a fraction of a percent of a couple preservatives (with wide safety margins) is hardly "chemically laden". that's just blatant emotionally charged language to push a naturalist agenda.
Food spoilage is a major issue, we need preservatives (in safe quantities) to keep food safe to eat as long as possible.