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Cooking Comes Clean!
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This week, The Weekly Beet investigates the insides of pots and pans. The Beet Girls go chef and come clean with the sticky truth on unhealthy cookware.
With 60% of all cookware sold in the US coated with Teflon, the non-stick industry is serving dinner in every household across America. From iron and copper to ceramic and shiny, stainless steel pots and pans, why is everybody so stuck on Teflon? Known as THE non-stick, easy to cook, and easy to clean pans of the 20th century, DuPont has skillfully masterminded a "pot" to get you in the kitchen. Accidentally invented by a chemist at DuPont, Teflon, a heat-resistant coating used on cookware, is made of a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). When exposed to high temperatures, Teflon-coated pans heat faster than most other pans, give off toxic fumes, and cause harmful effects to the body and to the environment. Unfortunately, the truth that Teflon is a likely carcinogen simmered in the pot for the past 68 years and has only recently been exposed to the public.
The following are the reasons why we're not sticking to Teflon. Chemicals in Teflon are linked to:
- Flu-like symptoms such as chills, fever, muscle, and head pains.
- Prostate, pancreas, testicular, liver, and breast cancer.
- Imbalances in hormonal function.
- Birth defects and infertility.
- Immune and nervous system disfunction.
- Depletion of the ozone layer.
The Environmental Protection Agency has requested that DuPont eliminate the use of PFOA by 2015. The Beet Girls say why wait? Follow our easy tips to going non-stick in a healthy way: - Throw out all Teflon pots and pans. Buy stainless steel pots and pans instead. Stainless steel is an excellent choice for everyday cooking because it is the least reactive metal when heated.
- Use tempered glass and unleaded ceramic pots such as Le Creuset and Chantal. These are great for casseroles and everyday cooking.
- Copper pots are also great. Make sure they are coated. We shop at
E. Dehillerain in Paris for the most amazing selection of copper pots. Click here for cleaning care.
- Cast iron cookware is also acceptable! Ask your grandmother for her's.
- Cleaning your cookware is very important. Use baking soda for really dirty pots and pans. Click here to find out more.
- Always use wooden and plastic utensils. Scraping cookware may cause metals to leak.
- Use a bit of Olive Oil Spray to make food non-
stick. Pam is OUT!
- Coconut Oil is another healthy oil that is very stable when cooking.
Stick with what's healthy! Don't miss a Beet. Stay tuned for next week.
Love,
Mary Kent & Elisa
PS. Mary Kent and Elisa are wearing jacket and chef hats from Hansen's of London.
PPS. Check out Elaine Gordon Evans, founder of Elaine's American Maid, on Ladies Who Launch.
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