Norwex Movement

The One Grease That Is Good for Your Heart

Is Your Cookware Making You Sick?

A good rule of thumb is if it’s convenient and makes your life easier, a trade-off is being made somewhere and often not for the better. Take cookware, for example. Did you know you might unknowingly be exposing yourself to chemicals that can leach into food from the tools you use to cook?

Not surprisingly, the most common cooking go-tos are actually the ones wrought with toxins that cause reactions ranging from the mildly nauseating (like the “Teflon flu”) to outright expiration (and we’re not talking package dates here!).

I mean, who doesn’t love that nonstick pan you can just wipe off or use to flawlessly flip an omelet? Well, all that slickness comes at an expense. Looking to add a helping of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to your next dish? What about a dash of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)? These are just a few of the chemicals that, when exposed to high heat, are freed from their molecular bonds and may even find their way into your family’s food.

The best advice? Apply a little “elbow” grease and sacrifice some convenience by choosing alternatives that are not only safer but also yield better cooking results and save you money in the long run. Avoid cooking up trouble by sticking with cookware from the “good” column below, especially if any of your “bad” cookware is chipped or cracked.

Good

Cast iron (non-stick when seasoned)
Food-grade stainless steel (safety standard)
Glass cookware (nonabsorbent)
100% ceramic cookware (resists high heat)

Bad

Nonstick pans (fumes can be lethal to pets)
Copper (tin- and nickel-laden)
Aluminum (linked to Alzheimer’s/ALS)
Ceramic-coated (may contain lead and cadmium)

We want to hear from you! Have you ever had a reaction or an “off” taste that you attributed to your cookware? Please share with other readers in the comments below.

Resources:

Can chemicals leach into your food from your cookware?