SHOULD BARBECUES BE BANNED? - Muxton Primary School
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The News Debate
SHOULD BARBECUES BE BANNED? 25 JUNE 2021
SHOULD
BARBECUES
BE BANNED?
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THE DILEMMA
Is it time to ban the barbecue?
Summer is traditionally the time when grown-ups light up the
coals and grill meat, fish and vegetables outdoors. But is it an
old-fashioned, dangerous habit? Or is it a fun and tasty treat for
the warmer months of the year that brings people together?
The UK’s Food Standards Agency says that “warm weather
and outdoor cooking can produce the right conditions for
the bacteria which cause food poisoning”. Some people end
up burning food on the barbecue, which can create harmful
chemicals. And many people eat unhealthy, fatty foods when
they have a barbecue, such as burgers, sausages and steaks.
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On the other hand, in some countries, it’s a really important part
of the food culture. In Argentina, for example, it’s customary
for families and friends to gather every Sunday and have a big
barbecue. Plus it’s a lot of fun!
So should we kill the grill, or bung another banger on the
barbie? You decide!
The News Debate
SHOULD BARBECUES BE BANNED? 25 JUNE 2021
FACTS & FIGURES The most popular food to accompany a BBQ
in the UK was salad, mentioned by 78% of poll
respondents, with bread on 70%
On average, UK households have a barbecue
just 10 times a year, with 14% only having a
BBQ once or twice a year
By contrast, Germans barbecue an average of
19 times a year, while people in France and
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Poland do so 17 times a year
In the UK, 75% of BBQ cooks are male, and In Poland, 85% of BBQ cooks are male, and
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25% are female 15% are female
The UK’s National Barbecue Week runs from In the UK, Germany, France and Poland,
5–18 July Saturday is the most popular day to barbecue.
In Italy, it’s Sunday!
According to a survey by the Idealo website,
57% of Brits with barbecues have charcoal Almost 80 million Americans have a barbecue
grills, while 33% use gas-powered ones each year
The most popular BBQ food in the UK is Only 26% of Brits have a BBQ in the winter,
burgers, which 81% of cooks put on the grill, compared to 45% of Germans and 75% of
closely followed by sausages (80%) Italians
In the USA, burgers are the most popular food, UK firefighters responded to 917 barbecue-
but only with 64% of BBQ cooks related callouts in 2018
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The News Debate
SHOULD BARBECUES BE BANNED? 25 JUNE 2021
HOW TO HAVE
store raw meat separately from ready-to-eat foods you’re going to have
use different utensils, plates and chopping boards a barbecue, it’s good
A SAFE BBQ for raw and cooked food
wash your hands after touching raw meat and
to mix the menu up
with some chicken,
fish, vegetables and
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before you handle ready-to-eat food lean beef.
NASTY CHEMICALS HISTORY OF THE BBQ
When food is cooked on
a barbecue, it can contain
high levels of chemicals
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Hydrocarbons (PAHs).
It’s rare for people to eat unsafe barbecue food, but These are formed when
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it’s important to be very careful. Here are some top organic substances are
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tips to pass on to grown-ups you know who might burned, such as wood/
be cooking a BBQ this summer: charcoal, and the meat
Some people char (burn) the outside of meats like itself. Burgers and sausages have the highest levels
A painting of native Americans grilling fish
sausages and burgers, and think they are cooked of PAHs during barbecuing.
through, but the inside remains raw. This can lead to PAHs are carcinogenic. That means they can cause
a nasty bout of food poisoning. The Food Standards It may seem like a treat to many of us now, but the
cancer. One way to reduce the risk is to make sure barbecue is one of the most ancient methods of
Agency (FSA) says it’s important to check that: food isn’t burnt. Another is to part-cook the food cooking food. Long before gas ovens, stoves and
the meat is steaming hot throughout indoors first, to limit how long it’s left on the barbecue microwaves, our ancestors were grilling the meat of
there is no pink meat visible when you cut into the grill. Covering meat in a marinade (sauce) cools it the animals they hunted over open fires.
thickest part down, which also helps prevent PAHs from forming.
But the modern idea of a barbecue is thought to
meat juices run clear But don’t worry too much – you’d have to regularly come from the 16th century. The word itself comes
eat a lot of PAHs to have an increased risk of from the Spanish barbacoa, which was used by
Another problem that sometimes takes place at becoming unwell.
barbecues is cross-contamination. That’s when invading Spaniards to describe how indigenous
people put raw meat, which might contain bacteria, Some of the foods we tend to eat at barbecues, people in the Caribbean cooked meat over a
very close to cooked meat. That’s why the FSA say such as sausages and burgers, are fatty, processed wooden platform. Barbacoa first appeared in print in
you must: red meat. Eating too much of these sorts of foods 1526, in an account written by one of the Spaniards
increases the risk of obesity and some cancers. So if who arrived in the Caribbean.
The News Debate
SHOULD BARBECUES BE BANNED? 25 JUNE 2021
AROUND THE WORLD FIRE RISK
which is the word for barbecue. Mostly it involves
different cuts of beef or whole lambs, cooked simply
without any marinade or sauce. Sausages are also
popular, and the meat is accompanied by a simple
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salad and bread.
SOUTH KOREA
The popular meats – chicken, beef and
pork – are cooked on a gas or charcoal grill which
is often built into the
dining table. Some
of the meat cuts are
marinated, but some
A classic Argentinian barbecue
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aren’t, and both are
often accompanied
A Korean barbecue table
In much of Europe, the barbecue is mostly a
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with rice or salad.
summer tradition. When the thermometer rises, out
comes the BBQ! But in other parts of the world, the USA
tradition is different. Disposable barbecues, which are foil trays containing
In the southern states, such as Georgia coal that are sold in supermarkets, have caused
SOUTH AFRICA and Alabama, a ‘barbeque’ refers to slow-cooked several fires in public parks and private homes.
meats such as pulled pork, ribs or brisket, grilled Recently, the Co-operative supermarket chain
The barbecue tradition is strong here, outside over wood. This gives the food a smoky stopped selling them within a one-mile (1.6km)
and the Afrikaans word for it is braai. taste, and it’s often accompanied by a BBQ sauce. radius of a park, to try to stop people using them
They are social occasions and a variety of meats are Each state has its own distinctive sauce. The term illegally in parks.
eaten, including sausages (known as boerewors), ‘cookout’ in Although it’s rare, barbecues that are not properly
skewers (sosaties), chicken, steaks and chops. Wood America refers looked after can cause fires. It’s particularly
or charcoal are used to cook the meat – never gas. to what we in dangerous on balconies, where embers
the UK know as from the fire could blow off and set light
ARGENTINA a barbecue – to balconies and items on them.
Another country with a very strong basically, grilling It’s really important to always monitor a
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barbecue tradition, in Argentina it’s various meats, fish barbecue, to make sure no embers blow
customary for people to get together for an asado, and vegetables on to something that can catch fire.
outside. American BBQ pulled pork
The News Debate
SHOULD BARBECUES BE BANNED? 25 JUNE 2021
YES, BAN THE BBQ NO, DON’T BAN THE BBQ
1. IT’S A FIRE RISK 1. IT’S
– Starting a fire in a DELICIOUS AND
garden or, worse, on a TRADITIONAL –
balcony, is a major fire Grilling food on a
risk. Embers from the barbecue – whether it’s
barbecue can blow in meat, fish or vegetables
the wind and start a – is a delicious way
dangerous blaze. It’s of cooking! In many
best not to risk it. cultures, the barbecue
is a way of life all year
2. IT’S MOSTLY round, a tradition to be
UNHEALTHY cherished. And even in
– Most of the food countries where it isn’t,
we barbecue is really it’s a fun part of the
unhealthy. Burgers and summer ritual.
sausages are high in fat
and salt, and they’re 2. THE RISKS ARE
processed meat, which TINY – There are
means they are really risks when cooking
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bad for our health. anywhere – whether
Getting rid of the BBQ it’s indoors or outside.
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will give our health a People who leave their frying pans unattended in a kitchen can cause
boost! a fire just as easily as somebody who doesn’t keep an eye on their
barbecue. As long as people take care, BBQs are perfectly safe.
3. IT’S A FOOD POISONING RISK – The problem with cooking
on a barbecue grill is that we often end up burning the outside of the 3. DON’T SPOIL OUR FUN! – Only a killjoy would ban the
meat and leaving the inside raw. This can lead to food poisoning. That’s a barbecue! It’s a fun way of enjoying the summer with friends, family, and
summer problem nobody wants! tasty food!
The News Debate
SHOULD BARBECUES BE BANNED? 25 JUNE 2021
How often, if at
Do you like
DISCUSS
DISCUSS
all, do you have a
barbecues?
barbecue?
What’s your What’s What’s not so
DISCUSS
DISCUSS
DISCUSS
favourite BBQ good about good about
food? barbecues? barbecues?
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