Re: Does microwaving food change its organic molecules' isomeric form?

Hi there

in this case, microwaving is just the same as simply heating- or cooking- 
food. You are putting a large amount of energy (heat) into a chemical 
mixture, so you should expect all sorts of interesting chemistry in 
there, including cis/trans isomerisation. I am not sure how much optical 
isomerisation you expect, nor whether microwaving would be in any way 
different from conventional heating.

I should firstly point out that all amino acids, vitamins, and indeed 
food, is toxic; but only if you eat enough of it. If you drink 9 liters 
of water straight off, that may kill you. If you eat 4 kilos of sugar, 
that also may kill you. And I can go on with every substance known; if 
you eat enough of it, it will damage you, whether it is nephro, or neuro, 
or some other toxicity. So it is very easy to make a statement 
that "chemical X is toxic", but not very surprising or helpful, since it 
applies to every compound !

A much more important question, is whether food provides a realistic risk 
of toxicity after microwaving/ cooking. I have to tell you that I have no 
qualms whatsoever about cooking, or microwaving, my food; though this is 
no boast about my ability as a cook !

As far as I am aware, there is no good evidence that cooking food 
increases cancer risk in humans, nor that microwave cooking increases 
cancer risk.

I hope this helps
yours
david