Live data from Hacker News

Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

theatlantic.com

631–640 of 886 posts

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#631
post #569

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true of nearly everything in this space. You'll find lots and lots of comments below about PFAS and Teflon pans, for example, ranging from factual-but-misleading (e.g. "Teflon pans can emit harmful gases when overheated") to bald assertions (multiple variations on "Teflon pans are harmful to your health") with no context or specificity to the claim. Setting aside the fact that the purported harms (if specified…

An overheating Teflon pan nearly killed my pet birds. I don't see how that's a factual but misleading statement.

Chocolate nearly killed my pet dog. Factual, but misleading in an article about health risks to humans.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#632
post #569
post #484

From gidmkhealthnerd, a scientific fact-checker: Counterpoint: this seems to be the crusade of a single researcher - I don't find the data personally convincing and am still using my black spatula for cooking. https://www.threads.net/@gidmkhealthnerd/post/DBxbQERykRx?hl...

That's true of nearly everything in this space. You'll find lots and lots of comments below about PFAS and Teflon pans, for example, ranging from factual-but-misleading (e.g. "Teflon pans can emit harmful gases when overheated") to bald assertions (multiple variations on "Teflon pans are harmful to your health") with no context or specificity to the claim. Setting aside the fact that the purported harms (if specified…

> irresponsible claims

Worst case scenario here is people throw out their relatively harmless spatulas and buy new ones. Big whoop.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#633

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A superficial web search reveals a handful of options; I'm sure if you spent a little time, like 10-15 minutes, you'd find dozens. If you only look at what's on offer in stores, and aren't in a place with a lot of variety, then you're not going to have many options.

what will "kill" us faster: buying local, or deeply-involved research projects to buy $600 waffle makers that are shipped across the globe?

Shipping something that weighs only a few pounds and can be shipped along with tens of thousands of shipping containers (i.e., is not needed at the destination in a day or two) costs almost no CO2 emissions.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#634
post #569
post #484

From gidmkhealthnerd, a scientific fact-checker: Counterpoint: this seems to be the crusade of a single researcher - I don't find the data personally convincing and am still using my black spatula for cooking. https://www.threads.net/@gidmkhealthnerd/post/DBxbQERykRx?hl...

That's true of nearly everything in this space. You'll find lots and lots of comments below about PFAS and Teflon pans, for example, ranging from factual-but-misleading (e.g. "Teflon pans can emit harmful gases when overheated") to bald assertions (multiple variations on "Teflon pans are harmful to your health") with no context or specificity to the claim. Setting aside the fact that the purported harms (if specified…

Agreed. So much hyperventilating about risks that, in context (e.g., driving, open water swimming, alcohol, tylenol), are infinitesimally small. Risk is a difficult subject for lay people to understand, and there are many professions built entirely on that human weakness.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#635
post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're really and truly concerned about this, you have to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself, "what's more important to me, my health or waffles?" It might be time to look for a johnnycake recipe, and that's OK.

Sadly, because I answered that question for myself, I have not had a waffle in years. Has nothing to do with toxins. My old belly just can't handle waffle/pancake batter stuff. I miss waffles...

Try almond or oat flour waffles.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#636
post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > What are people possibly using these for? > Eggs and egg dishes (e.g. pancakes) mostly. That non-stick spray PAM is straight out, unless maybe you're huffing it. For eggs & pancakes I find that cast iron is responsive enough to temperature changes when used with induction, and that butter works to prevent sticking just fine.

You can cook eggs on non stick with no added fat at all.

If you hate flavor, yeah.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#637

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you find a non-Teflon waffle iron?

Look— simply. People were making waffles in the Iron Age.

ah yes, the good ole iron age where castings were likely to have large amounts of arsenic/beryllium/copper/bronze contamination. much better than 'black plastic'.

I get your point , waffle irons are plentiful and available throughout history -- but finding some antique is pretty likely to just swap your contamination from one to another.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#638
The only reason to use ever plastic spatula is to avoid damaging a 'fragile' nonstick pan ... that you probably shouldn't be using anyway.

Just use carbon/stainless steel pans, wood turners, and metal spatulas. Your food will be better and the implements will last ~forever.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#640

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oxo claims they use Eastman Tritan Renew recycled plastics [1] which are FDA and EFSA certified for food use[2]. That said, I’ve personally been to multiple cookware factories in China and Taiwan and saw bags of Dow thermoplastic resins next to various cheaper-by-half China brands. The reason name brands go with Dow is the consistency in Pantone color matching colored parts. For black, it would be trivial for the con…

>it would be trivial for the contract manufacturer to cost-down to (toxic) China brands without the client (Oxo) ever knowing. It would also be trivial to spot check these products on a mass spectrometer for heavy metal contamination but I never saw that done. Aren't these contradictory statements? If it's "trivial" to spot check their product that is otherwise indistinguishable from the competition using mass spectr…

These are not contradictory.
Post reply on HN