Microwave tests of food?

Recent reports on the internet have claimed that food cooked in microwave ovens is being altered in the process of cooking. The only research in this area seems to have been that of Swiss investigators Hertel and Blanc, who published their work in the early 90s and were then theoretically gagged by Swiss authorities. Meanwhile, it is reported that the Russians ban all microwaved food.

Nevertheless, people in the US have been using microwave ovens to cook and heat food for many years, and there appears to have been no significant bad effect that has been brought to public notice.

It would be interesting to see the results of a few scientific tests. A few ordinary foods like sugar and salt (separately and then together) could be microwaved and then tested to see if any new chemicals have been created, or existing chemicals destroyed or modified. Further tests could be done on more complex food components, such as starches and alcohol, and then on actual foods. A few tests if this type would go a long way toward setting the facts straight. The biotech labs of many companies and colleges could probably do the tests with little advance preparation.

Does anyone know of any real research in this area? If no tests have been done, the following types of tests should be performed.

To test the effect(s) of microwave cooking on food you need a microwave oven and a spectrum analyzer, assuming the spectrum analyzer can detect any changes that occur in the food. The test sequence would be approximately as follows:

Test 1:

Step 1. Get some very clean water and boil it on a stove to volatize any gases dissolved in it. Then get its spectrum to see what impurities it has, if any.

Step 2. Let the water cool to room temperature and then microwave the water to the boiling point and boil for about a minute.

Step 3. Let the water cool and do another spectrum test.

Step 4. Compare the spectrums of before and after the microwaving. If the microwaving did not affect the water, the two spectrums should be the same, assuming impurities have not been affected.

Test 2:

Add some sugar to some water from step one and let it dissolve. Then repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 of the water plus sugar.

Test 3:

Add both salt and sugar to some water from step one and let them dissolve. Then repeat steps 2, 3, and 4.

Further tests:

Other tests can be done in the same manner using other basic food components such as starches and fats and then actual foods such as milk, meat, etc. Food tests would be more complicated because you would now have to compare meat cooked in the microwave oven to meat cooked in a regular oven.

The tests on simple foods could be done in any biotech lab with a microwave oven and a spectrum analyzer. This might be a good project for some biology grad students.