4 ms·

If you don't want to consume PFAS, you'd be better served trying to limit them from food packaging. There's limited evidence that cooking with traditional nonst

If you don't want to consume PFAS, you'd be better served trying to limit them from food packaging. There's limited evidence that cooking with traditional nonstick cookware exposes people to PFAS. The evidence shows that discarded nonstick cookware exposes the environment to those PFAS. Which is awful! But probably not affecting you directly. Meanwhile, food packaging is unregulated and has been shown to be a major source of PFAS. Water bottles are particularly guilty. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/dangerous-pfas-chemicals-are-in-your-food-packaging-a3786252074/ https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/dan...

vkou 3y ago
What exactly is 'traditional' nonstick cookware? Teflon? I avoid it, because I know I'm too stupid to never make a mistake with either a bad scratch, or bad temperature control.
- oooyay 3y ago
  I use a cast iron for this purpose
- mrob 3y ago
  Scratching is not a problem from a health point of view (it will of course impair the non-stick performance). PTFE is extremely unreactive. If you scratch off some and accidentally eat it you'll just excrete it unchanged. Overheating can be a problem because it can produce potentially harmful decomposition products. It's especially risky if you cook at high temperatures, e.g. for searing meat, or if you use cookwear that doesn't distribute the heat well and develops hot spots. I recommend using an IR thermometer to learn how you cooking setup behaves. The most conservative maximum safe temperature I've seen claimed is 200C, and careful and gentle cooking shouldn't exceed this.
- ars 3y ago
  > or bad temperature control. In that case you should prefer teflon. Oil with bad temperature control is far more harmful, because oil produces toxic gasses at a much lower temperature vs teflon. You have much greater leeway with teflon to catch mistakes, and the results are not as harmful. And what concern do you have with a scratch?
- kccqzy 3y ago
  Traditional nonstick cookware is just cast iron with plenty of butter (or lard). When I fry my eggs I add about half a tablespoon of butter to a cast iron skillet. It is nonstick.
ars 3y ago
There is zero PFAS in cookware. It used in the manufacturing, but none is left in the final product. And note that Teflon itself is not actually a PFAS, but if you google the subject many authors pretend that it is. Food packaging on the other hand...... Especially paper straws are really really bad. You should make sure to only use plastic straws.

vkou 3y ago

What exactly is 'traditional' nonstick cookware? Teflon? I avoid it, because I know I'm too stupid to never make a mistake with either a bad scratch, or bad temperature control.

oooyay 3y ago
I use a cast iron for this purpose
mrob 3y ago
Scratching is not a problem from a health point of view (it will of course impair the non-stick performance). PTFE is extremely unreactive. If you scratch off some and accidentally eat it you'll just excrete it unchanged. Overheating can be a problem because it can produce potentially harmful decomposition products. It's especially risky if you cook at high temperatures, e.g. for searing meat, or if you use cookwear that doesn't distribute the heat well and develops hot spots. I recommend using an IR thermometer to learn how you cooking setup behaves. The most conservative maximum safe temperature I've seen claimed is 200C, and careful and gentle cooking shouldn't exceed this.
ars 3y ago
> or bad temperature control. In that case you should prefer teflon. Oil with bad temperature control is far more harmful, because oil produces toxic gasses at a much lower temperature vs teflon. You have much greater leeway with teflon to catch mistakes, and the results are not as harmful. And what concern do you have with a scratch?
kccqzy 3y ago
Traditional nonstick cookware is just cast iron with plenty of butter (or lard). When I fry my eggs I add about half a tablespoon of butter to a cast iron skillet. It is nonstick.

ars 3y ago

There is zero PFAS in cookware. It used in the manufacturing, but none is left in the final product. And note that Teflon itself is not actually a PFAS, but if you google the subject many authors pretend that it is. Food packaging on the other hand...... Especially paper straws are really really bad. You should make sure to only use plastic straws.