3 ms·

Dumb question but…why do humans keep using toxic chemicals for cooking and storing food? Surely we can find something edible.

jiggywiggy 4y ago
Fresh food logistics are horrible. Did fresh food online for a few years. Makes things almost impossible. The smart companies try to extent the shelf life as long as possible. And make storage easy. Plastic and chemicals are great for those. Put some chemicals in that make your company profitable while the gov deems it safe? A no brainer. Only non chemical alternative is the freezer.
- tectonic 4y ago
  Yup: https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/dangerous-pfas-chemicals-are-in-your-food-packaging-a3786252074/ https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/dan...
- anonymouskimmer 4y ago
  > Only non chemical alternative is the freezer. Waxes are pretty natural chemicals, even when they're refined from oil. We used to use them all the time for fresh food storage. I assume they're more expensive than fluorinated packaging though.
olao99 4y ago
Because they're legal. We would still use asbestos and lead if it were not because of the legality question
- hanniabu 4y ago
  If asbestos was introduced today I'm doubtful it'd be outlawed
kube-system 4y ago
They’re chosen because they have other practical qualities that were desirable. Often we don’t fully realize the drawbacks of materials we use with our food until many years after they are widespread.
dghughes 4y ago
Florine is extremely reactive but that means whatever it reacts with should stay put. So in theory it should never degrade, breakdown, or leach out.
ChancyChance 4y ago
One reason I've heard over and over to support teflon cookware: "I don't want to use oil when frying eggs." I know all the arguments that follow, I'm just sayin'.
- amanaplanacanal 4y ago
  In my mind frying implies fat of some kind. If they don't want the fat there are plenty of other ways to cook eggs.
Ekaros 4y ago
Because coming up with something light that can resist heat(food tends to be hot), moist or straight up water and fats and oils is hard. Plate or heavy container isn't that hard. But something that can be transported or even used to store stuff fore even couple days or weeks is quite hard task.
- zamfi 4y ago
  It’s not hard, it’s just inconvenient and more time-intensive. For example, tiffin carriers, or dabbas, have existed for a very long time, but require frequent cleaning, and take up more space. When we decided that disposable packaging was an acceptable level of waste to incur, we set ourselves on a path to its ubiquity.
goodpoint 4y ago
Profit.
lm28469 4y ago
It's cheap and convenient, the negative effects are seen decades later when the execs already cashed out

jiggywiggy 4y ago

Fresh food logistics are horrible. Did fresh food online for a few years. Makes things almost impossible. The smart companies try to extent the shelf life as long as possible. And make storage easy. Plastic and chemicals are great for those. Put some chemicals in that make your company profitable while the gov deems it safe? A no brainer. Only non chemical alternative is the freezer.

tectonic 4y ago
Yup: https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/dangerous-pfas-chemicals-are-in-your-food-packaging-a3786252074/ https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/dan...
anonymouskimmer 4y ago
> Only non chemical alternative is the freezer. Waxes are pretty natural chemicals, even when they're refined from oil. We used to use them all the time for fresh food storage. I assume they're more expensive than fluorinated packaging though.

olao99 4y ago

Because they're legal. We would still use asbestos and lead if it were not because of the legality question

hanniabu 4y ago
If asbestos was introduced today I'm doubtful it'd be outlawed

kube-system 4y ago

They’re chosen because they have other practical qualities that were desirable. Often we don’t fully realize the drawbacks of materials we use with our food until many years after they are widespread.

dghughes 4y ago

Florine is extremely reactive but that means whatever it reacts with should stay put. So in theory it should never degrade, breakdown, or leach out.

ChancyChance 4y ago

One reason I've heard over and over to support teflon cookware: "I don't want to use oil when frying eggs." I know all the arguments that follow, I'm just sayin'.

amanaplanacanal 4y ago
In my mind frying implies fat of some kind. If they don't want the fat there are plenty of other ways to cook eggs.

Ekaros 4y ago

Because coming up with something light that can resist heat(food tends to be hot), moist or straight up water and fats and oils is hard. Plate or heavy container isn't that hard. But something that can be transported or even used to store stuff fore even couple days or weeks is quite hard task.

zamfi 4y ago
It’s not hard, it’s just inconvenient and more time-intensive. For example, tiffin carriers, or dabbas, have existed for a very long time, but require frequent cleaning, and take up more space. When we decided that disposable packaging was an acceptable level of waste to incur, we set ourselves on a path to its ubiquity.

goodpoint 4y ago

Profit.

lm28469 4y ago

It's cheap and convenient, the negative effects are seen decades later when the execs already cashed out