The Truth About TEFLON

[burtlancast]

This is not in any way an attempt of my part to bash Ray; but i think he spoke too soon about Teflon being safe if not scratched.

Here are the facts:

-Even when unscratched, "studies show ultrafine particles start coming off the pan starting at 554 degrees. These are tiny little particles that can embed deeply into the lungs."
The hotter the pan gets, the more chemicals are released. "At 680, toxic gases can begin to come off of heated Teflon," .

- Cooking a few bacon slices is sufficient to rapidly bring the temperature above this 554 degrees treshold in a few minutes, and when inhaled they cause symptoms of the "teflon flu" with "headaches, chills, backache, temperature between 100 and 104 degrees.", lasting over two days.

- There exists 16 peer-reviewed studies detailing 50 years worth of experiments showing that heated Teflon decomposes to 15 types of toxic gases and particles. Many of the studies were done by scientists at DuPont.

- A former top engineer detailed DuPont's cover-up of contaminating human blood for 18 years. DuPont agreed to pay the largest administrative EPA fine in history, $16.5 million for it in 2005.

There's scores of other damaging infos at these links:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3IDF_px4AY[/youtube]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/ ... 9747.shtml
http://www.townsendletter.com/June2006/ ... sk0606.htm
http://www.oldworldaviaries.com/text/styles/teflon.html
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/teflon.htm

 

[charlie]

I don't take any chances and use these:

Edit: removed link because amazon changed the pans and they are now non-stick.

 

[jyb]

PS. RP claims they are safe unless chipped in his article on Iron.

 

[kettlebell]

So stainless steel is what we want to go for right? Or are there other factors involved. Been a while since I had been looking on and off for an equivalent to that set in the UK cant cant remember the criteria for "Safe"

I will also re read that article.

 

[burtlancast]

PS. RP claims they are safe unless chipped in his article on Iron.

Do you agree with him ?

 

[charlie]

So stainless steel is what we want to go for right? Or are there other factors involved. Been a while since I had been looking on and off for an equivalent to that set in the UK cant cant remember the criteria for "Safe"

I will also re read that article.

18/0 Stainless steel is what you are looking for. If its 18/10 it will have nickel in it IIRC.

 

[charlie]

PS. RP claims they are safe unless chipped in his article on Iron.

What if its a small enough chip that you cannot see? Or a lot of small chips you cannot see? I am not taking any chances as we have enough toxic chemicals to deal with already.

 

[jyb]

PS. RP claims they are safe unless chipped in his article on Iron.

What if its a small enough chip that you cannot see? Or a lot of small chips you cannot see? I am not taking any chances as we have enough toxic chemicals to deal with already.

I don't know enough. If you use it gently and don't produce visible chips, does it inevitably wear off over time? I'm not sure which is best, a teflon in good condition or a 18/0 (iron only) stainless steel?

 

[Ingenol]

I don't take any chances and use these:

Farberware Millennium Tulip Shaped 10-Piece Set, Stainless

In the picture it appears as if this has a non-stick coating?

 

[charlie]

I don't take any chances and use these:

Farberware Millennium Tulip Shaped 10-Piece Set, Stainless

In the picture it appears as if this has a non-stick coating?

Yep, you are right they changed out the pans. Doesn't seem like amazon carries the right pans anymore. I will keep checking.

 

[burtlancast]

It's been shown scientifically 95% of the population has Teflon-related chemicals in their blood; children show the biggest concentrations.
And there are no reliable human studies on the effects of these particules on humans, while they have been shown to be tremendously toxic to animals.

 

[cliff]

It's been shown scientifically 95% of the population has Teflon-related chemicals in their blood

Where?

 

[Wilfrid]

It's been shown scientifically 95% of the population has Teflon-related chemicals in their blood

Where?

Tefal probably holds the statitics about it......

 

[montmorency]

I thought I heard Ray in an interview say that he wasn't particularly happy about any sort of stainless steel pan, but that one sort was slightly less bad than another. Perhaps it was the one without nickel, referred to by Charlie(?) - was that the 18/0?

Whatever it was, I think he said if it was magnetic, it was "OK", and I tried our pans, and they seemed magnetic.

I've just tried them again, and it's only the base that is magnetic. hmmm. And the stamp says they are 18/10. hmmm...again.


Dr Mercola was going on about this sort of thing a while back, and (surprise surprise), he was selling some non-iron, non-teflon cookware, presumably some form of earthenware, but in a modern form. Quite expensive, but there was a special offer....you know the form.


Well 18/10 stainless steel may not be ideal, but I still prefer it to teflon, which I've avoided for years. I try to cook my food only minimally anyway, for what it's worth.
(Except for bone broths, of course ... oops).

 

[Peata]

I admit I haven't thrown out all my Teflon yet. I rarely use it. Here's what I use the vast majority of time.

-stainless steel. (some of my pans are magnetic, some are not)

-cast iron (I like this for frying foods. I don't cook acidic things in it. I usually have some coffee with or near the meal to help prevent iron absorption).

-Orgreenic (ceramic skillet. I think the coating is coming off a little already in places, similar to how teflon comes off.)

There doesn't seem to be a "perfect" option, does there?

 

[jyb]

There doesn't seem to be a "perfect" option, does there?

Glass is?

I have a glass pan and its pretty convenient, not just healthier. Its surprisingly easier to clean than metal pans. You could find some used glass pans on eBay maybe? Glass is robust so it will be like new, it doesn't wear out as metal pans.

 

[Jenn]

Glass is awesome. My vision ware glass fry pans cook like cast iron, but are lighter and easier to clean.

 

[Asimov]

I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable when it comes to cooking and I just got my mind blown with the glass skillet thing.

I never would have thought anyone made glass skillets in a million years. Come to find out not only are they out there, but they're also dirt cheap because most people don't like cooking on them (takes longer to heat up, doesn't heat up evenly, etc).

 

[charlie]

I really need to get me some glass. Think I am gonna start checking the thrift stores around me.

 

[Peata]

I'm excited because my Mom is going to give me a piece of her old Vision glass cookware. She hasn't used them in years and put them away after a short time using them. I think this may have been back in the 80s. When I asked about them today, she said she thinks there are three pieces to the set. She'll have to look them up and see what's there. But I'm glad I'll get to use at least one of them.