March 24/Washington/States News Service -- James H. Hodges, president, American Meat Institute (AMI) Foundation, released the following statement in response to the study "Assessment of Human Exposure to Heterocyclic Amines from Cooked Meat Products":
"It has long been known that high heat cooking of protein foods can cause very low levels of compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) to form. HCAs have been found in non-protein foods as well. All humans, however, are normally and unavoidably exposed to some level of HCAs in foods.