June 18/Washington/Health Day -- A study claims grilling food appropriately could be a step toward prevention of cancer.

The study says that avoiding a lot of beef, processed meats and overcooking food could help prevent cancer.

"Two aspects of the traditional American cookout, what you grill and how you grill it, can potentially raise cancer risk," Alice Bender, a dietitian with the American Institute for Cancer Research, said in an institute news release.

"Diets that feature big portions of red and processed meat have been shown to make colorectal cancer more likely. Evidence that grilling itself is a risk factor is less strong, but it only makes sense to take some easy cancer-protective precautions," she added, according to a report in Health Day.

When food gets charred while cooking, it forms cancer-causing compounds, Bender explains.

 From the June 19, 2012, Prepared Foods Daily News