Is burnt toast bad for you?

PixelChef · 7 Dec 2007 at 09:33

Try microwaved bread, I prefer it to toast

. Rolls work better though.

D.P. · 7 Dec 2007 at 09:40

Steeps said:
If you're a woman you're doomed

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7124501.stm

With those stats, 60,000 women take part and 600 develop cancer, 1% of people studied were affected. How can they call that proof?

If the base rate for those cancers was 0.1% then you have a 10 times higher risk. Having more subjects just means the statistics gets easier, you need a weaker effect to still attain a statistically significant effect.

With 60,000 people you the effects could be 0.01% difference in the probability of getting cancer but that will still be significant statistically.

OF course, what should also be performed is a power analysis to determine effect size.

EDIT:
Now I've read that article it is quite obvious why the effect is significant. Those women who ate more burnt food doubled their chances of getting cancer. When you double any effect and have a degrees of freedom at over 60,000 then it is now wonder they would get alpha values in the highly significant range (<0.01%)

a1ex2001 · 7 Dec 2007 at 09:41

Yes like everything these days it causes cancer! and we'll all be dead before were 90! I don't think that there is any food stuf that is now considered 100% safe for human consumption if you want to live forever!

D.P. · 7 Dec 2007 at 09:44

Tefal said:
I wonder if natural cancer chance is 1%

No, one can infer that the piror base rate is 0.5%.
According tot he article the women doubled their chances of those cancers.

div0 · 7 Dec 2007 at 09:52

Jimmeh said:
If burnt toast does give you cancer, I should've been dead years ago.

It's like smoking. It doesn't nesessarily 'give' you cancer. Just increases the chances of you getting it.

platypus · 7 Dec 2007 at 09:53

But I like the taste of burnt toast

.

krooton · 7 Dec 2007 at 09:58

a1ex2001 said:
Yes like everything these days it causes cancer! and we'll all be dead before were 90! I don't think that there is any food stuf that is now considered 100% safe for human consumption if you want to live forever!

Oats, which are the closest to perfect food there is.

Lunatic Dreyfus · 7 Dec 2007 at 10:48

I like my toast very well done, and on occasion, slightly charred.

But everything gives you cancer these days. Our cards are marked in so many ways it's a wonder any of us are still alive.

joeconway · 7 Dec 2007 at 11:53

whoops

The Dread Pirate · 7 Dec 2007 at 11:55

Zefan said:
Yes, it's carcinogenic - seriously.

What isn't nowadays TBH :rolleyes:

aardvark · 7 Dec 2007 at 12:06

anything burnt contains huge amounts of free radicals and they have of course been linked to cancer - but the body is used to free radicals and has designed many protective mechanisms - various antioxidants like vitamin C are used to quench these free radicals - so there is a risk but i would say its pretty small compared to the sorts of chemicals you are exposed to on a daily basis in foods, cosmetics etc...

platypus · 7 Dec 2007 at 12:18

In fact, incinerated toast with lashings of butter and marmite is hard to beat.

semi-pro waster · 7 Dec 2007 at 12:55

oL said:
Try microwaved bread, I prefer it to toast . Rolls work better though.

Surely that just gives you warm, soggy bread? I'm not a fan of charred toast but even I draw the line at that, it sounds minging.

PixelChef · 7 Dec 2007 at 13:33

semi-pro waster said:
Surely that just gives you warm, soggy bread? I'm not a fan of charred toast but even I draw the line at that, it sounds minging.

Well only works on rustic (?) bread/rolls, about 40 seconds in the microwave and it's realy soft, warm and slightly chewy, bit like it's fresh. Doesn't work on sandwich bread, would go soggy like you said.

Tony Williams · 7 Dec 2007 at 13:37

Burnt toast and jam tastes like barbecued human, nice, crunchy and burnt.