|
|
 |
|
 |
| Jupiter Images (click to enlarge)
|
| Non-stick cookware can release chemicals deadly to birds when it's overheated, a problem that happens most often when people forget things on the stove. |
| |
ADVERTISEMENT
|
| |
|
Great. I’m afraid of my kitchen. Again.
Posted
at
11:55 am
by Sarah Jackson
When I was pregnant, I really tried to avoid plastics when it came to my food.
My body was a temple for the baby.
Now, however, I’m constantly chasing my 15-month-old todder around and I’ve slipped into complacency. I’ve stopped using glass so religiously and even found myself last night reheating food in a Ziploc plastic container.
Yikes.
After reading this WebMD article this morning — “Pots, Pans, and Plastics: A Shopper's Guide to Food Safety” — I am thinking of a return to vigilance.
First, it turns out most of the estrogen-mimicking BPA or Bisphenol A we absorb into our bodies isn’t from water bottles, but from canned foods. You know the white lining in tomato paste cans? It often contains BPA. Premixed liquid baby formula is surrounded by the same stuff.
Second, phthalates ("THAL-ates”) — banned in the EU and nine other countries, including Mexico because of its testosterone-mimicking qualities — are also entering our bodies through food processed or touched by plastics, though no one knows exactly how.
Nice.
Finally, there’s good old Teflon, found in most non-stick cookware plus nonstick packaging used for microwave popcorn and some fast-food containers. (Oh, no, not Smart Pop!) We’re supposed to be careful with that stuff, too.
It wasn’t those tidbits that made me worry so much. It was the tips at the end of the article, including these indictments of non-stick cookware:
- Run an exhaust fan over the stove while using nonstick cookware.
- Never cook on Teflon or other nonstick cookware with a pet bird in the kitchen. The fumes from an overheated pan can kill a bird in seconds.
- Don't microwave food in plastic containers (put food on a plate instead).
- Store food in glass or Pyrex containers, rather than plastic.
I don’t mean to come off as a chemphobic fearmonger, but it’s hard not to be spooked.
Fortunately, when it comes to Teflon, I have already seen the light and found a deep enjoyment in stainless steel cookware, which allows you to truly brown and carmelize things like nothing else.
But for occasions when you need non-stick, there are a lot of “green” pans coming on the market without chemicals or at least made so they aren’t released as easily.
I’ve heard great things about Scanpan from two different cooking shops already and am ready to give them a try next time I get paid.
Have you had experience with any green pans, Scanpan or the like? Write me here or comment below. Share your thoughts! Please.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Return to Eco Geek |
|
|
|Contact Us
|Advertiser Services
|Home Delivery
|Newsstand Locations
|Classifieds
|Feedback
|About the Company
|Work@the Herald
|Site Map