Experts Warn Of The Hidden Dangers Eating Burned Toast

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The idea of turning my toast into charcoal isn't my thing, but I've noticed it's a favorite for many.

Yet, while some savor burnt toast for breakfast or a late-night snack, experts have sounded the alarm about potential risks.

You might be wondering, 'Could toast really be risky?' Surprisingly, the culprit is the Maillard reaction, occurring around 120°C (248°F), which is responsible for that appealing golden-brown color but also triggers some unexpected dangers.

The Maillard reaction deserves a round of applause for the delicious flavors in our cooked meals.

It's the secret behind that irresistible taste we all love in most of our cooked dinners.

"In the process, hundreds of different flavor compounds are created," Science of Cooking explains.

"These compounds in turn break down to form yet more new flavor compounds, and so on.

Each type of food has a very distinctive set of flavor compounds that are formed during the Maillard reaction."

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The problem with this reaction stems from an amino acid called asparagine, found in various everyday foods like potatoes, bread, cereals, cookies, and even coffee.

A study by Swedish scientists in 2002 uncovered a concerning aspect: the Maillard reaction transforms asparagine into a substance called acrylamide.

This substance, formed when we burn toast, is marked as 'very toxic' by CAMEO Chemicals.

Essentially, acrylamide isn't a friend to our health, potentially harming our nervous system.

Prolonged exposure could even up the chances of developing dementia.

Federica Laguzzi, assistant professor of cardiovascular and nutritional epidemiology at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, told BBC Future:

"Acrylamide passes through all tissue, including the placenta, because it has a low molecular weight and is soluble in water."

Furthermore, there's the looming concern of cancer risk; elevated levels of acrylamide have been linked to an increased likelihood of animals developing this disease.

Measuring that risk on humans is a different story, as Rashmi Sinha, a senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute, told Inverse:

"To really be able to say that this causes cancer, you need to do clinical trials. But you can't do clinical trials with things that are possible carcinogens."

"The main studies have been association [or] prospective studies. We ask questions about how [healthy participants] cook their foods and then we follow them up for ten, fifteen, twenty-years."

Nonetheless, it may be best to lay off the burnt toast.