A wave of warning vs. microwave ovens
May 21, 2002 | 12:00am
This e-mail came hot and fresh from Canada:
I was watching TV this morning. They had a Dr. Edward Fujimoto from Castle Hospital on the program. He is the manager of the Wellness Program at the hospital. He was talking about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat and plastics releases dioxins into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.
Dioxins are carcinogens that are highly toxic to the cells of our bodies. Instead, he recommends using glass, Corning Ware, or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results without the dioxins. So, such things as TV dinners, instant soups, etc. should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what’s in the paper. He said we might remember when some fast-food restaurants moved away from foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem was one of the reasons.
– FERNANDO
All hot and bothered about this burning issue?
Basically, unless your microwave is damaged beyond repair or was made before 1971, there’s no reason to worry about microwaves leaking from ovens, says the book Safe Food – Eating Wisely in a Risky World. "Microwaves made after 1971 have automatic shut-off devices to prevent them from operating when the door is open. The jury is still out on whether exposure to electromagnetic fields from electric appliances, including microwaves, is linked to cancer. But as long as you’re not close to an operating microwave oven for long periods, you’re safe."
However, here’s cause for concern regarding microwaving, which has become an inevitable part of fast-paced, fast-food modern living: "Some packaging used in the microwave is a concern – ‘heat-susceptor’ packaging, for one.This type of packaging is used for microwave popcorn and foods such as pizza, waffles, and French fries that need to be browned or ‘crisped’ – something the microwave can’t do on its own. A heat-susceptor package has a plastic-coated metal strip or disk which absorbs the microwave energy in the oven and can get as hot as 500°F – turning the package into a veritable frying pan. According to the FDA, the high temperatures cause the package to break down, releasing chemicals from adhesives, polymers, paper, and paperboard into the food."
So far, testing has found low levels of chemicals leaching from some packages into food.
Aside from plastic containers, plastic cling wraps are another problem, assert the authors of Safe Food. A 1987 British study found that a plasticizer commonly used in some plastic wraps migrates into fatty foods during microwaving and even at the temperature inside a refrigerator when the wrap is in direct contact with the fatty food.
Authors of the book lament: "Surprisingly, even when packaging products are labeled ‘microwavable’ or ‘microwave safe,’ that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are safe for use in the microwave. These are industry claims – the FDA doesn’t guarantee them. Housewares don’t have to meet the same FDA standards as food-product packaging, and there are no standard industry-wide tests to ensure that they won’t leach contaminants into your food."
So what do we do?
• Either don’t buy these foods (in heat-susceptor packages) or put them in other containers (preferably oven-proof glass) before you cook them.
• Make sure that no foods touch plastic wrap during microwaving. Or simply stick to oven-proof glass containers and glass covers. Never use flimsy plastic containers like yogurt cups or margarine tubs in your microwave.
Here are more hot tips on microwaving, again from Safe Food:
• Use your microwave only if the door closes easily and tightly; don’t use it if an object is caught in the door, or if the door is otherwise damaged. If there are any signs of rusting on the oven, have it repaired.
• If your children operate your microwave oven, make sure they know how to operate it properly. Kids have been burned by microwaved jelly doughnuts (the jelly inside can be burning hot even if the outside dough feels cool). Also teach them to be careful to avoid burns from steam coming from bags of microwaved popcorn.
• To avoid accidents, puncture foods such as potatoes, tomatoes, sausages, etc. before cooking them, and don’t use the microwave for deep frying.
• To protect infants against burns, never warm baby bottles in the microwave.
• Be patient – wait for food to be microwaved long enough to kill all the bacteria. It is extremely important to cook prepared foods according to instructions, to reheat leftovers thoroughly, and to follow any instructions calling for food to stand after you take it out of the microwave. This additional time is necessary for the food to finish cooking.
• Take special care when microwaving meat, poultry, or fish to ensure that they are cooked thoroughly. De-bone large pieces of meat. Turn meat, poultry, or fish several times during cooking and use a temperature probe or meat thermometer in a few places to check the internal temperature for doneness. Cook both beef and pork to an internal temperature of at least 160°F, so that they are slightly pink inside. Cook poultry to 180°F and fish to 140°F.
Cover your cooking dish with an oven-proof glass top (the steam that accumulates will heat the surface of the food, so it cooks more evenly).
• Don’t cook whole, stuffed poultry in a microwave (the warm, moist conditions in the stuffing, combined with uneven cooking, create perfect conditions for bacterial growth).
• When you defrost food in a microwave, finish cooking it immediately. Also, be sure to remove food from store wrap or foam trays before thawing it in a microwave.
• Yes, do use your microwave to cook vegetables as microwaving retains more vitamins and minerals than conventional cooking does because microwave cooking time is shorter and less water is used.
While we’re hot and heavy on the topic of food gadgets, here’s what’s safe and not in cookware, according to authors Michael Jacobson, Lisa Lefferts and Anne Witte Garland:
• Stainless steel: It’s perfectly safe for most people. But for people who are allergic to nickel, eating food with a high nickel content – including acidic foods such as stewed tomatoes cooked in stainless-steel cookware – may aggravate symptoms of dermatitis.
• Cast iron: An excellent choice, it’s safe and can even be a source of needed iron in the diet.
• Copper: Don’t use it if it’s unlined (most good quality copperware is lined with tin or stainless steel). Acidic foods can cause copper to be released from the cookware into the food. Although our bodies need a little copper, too much can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
• Aluminum: 20 years from now, scientists may yet prove that aluminum causes Alzheimer’s disease. But right now, the evidence linking aluminum to Alzheimer’s disease is not that strong (though Alzheimer’s patients have been found to have elevated levels of aluminum in their brains) for you to throw out your aluminum pots and pans.
• Teflon: Avoid scratching the pan with metal utensils so you don’t eat Teflon particles in your food (don’t worry, the particles won’t be absorbed by your body) and don’t impair the pan’s "nonstick" property. Just don’t use Teflon cookware for broiling, and don’t leave it unattended at high heat because it may give off fumes.
• Ceramic: According to the FDA, avoid ceramic cookware from Mexico, China, India, and Hong Kong because of the possibility that it may leach dangerous amounts of lead into your food.
Happy cooking!
I was watching TV this morning. They had a Dr. Edward Fujimoto from Castle Hospital on the program. He is the manager of the Wellness Program at the hospital. He was talking about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat and plastics releases dioxins into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.
Dioxins are carcinogens that are highly toxic to the cells of our bodies. Instead, he recommends using glass, Corning Ware, or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results without the dioxins. So, such things as TV dinners, instant soups, etc. should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what’s in the paper. He said we might remember when some fast-food restaurants moved away from foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem was one of the reasons.
– FERNANDO
All hot and bothered about this burning issue?
Basically, unless your microwave is damaged beyond repair or was made before 1971, there’s no reason to worry about microwaves leaking from ovens, says the book Safe Food – Eating Wisely in a Risky World. "Microwaves made after 1971 have automatic shut-off devices to prevent them from operating when the door is open. The jury is still out on whether exposure to electromagnetic fields from electric appliances, including microwaves, is linked to cancer. But as long as you’re not close to an operating microwave oven for long periods, you’re safe."
However, here’s cause for concern regarding microwaving, which has become an inevitable part of fast-paced, fast-food modern living: "Some packaging used in the microwave is a concern – ‘heat-susceptor’ packaging, for one.This type of packaging is used for microwave popcorn and foods such as pizza, waffles, and French fries that need to be browned or ‘crisped’ – something the microwave can’t do on its own. A heat-susceptor package has a plastic-coated metal strip or disk which absorbs the microwave energy in the oven and can get as hot as 500°F – turning the package into a veritable frying pan. According to the FDA, the high temperatures cause the package to break down, releasing chemicals from adhesives, polymers, paper, and paperboard into the food."
So far, testing has found low levels of chemicals leaching from some packages into food.
Aside from plastic containers, plastic cling wraps are another problem, assert the authors of Safe Food. A 1987 British study found that a plasticizer commonly used in some plastic wraps migrates into fatty foods during microwaving and even at the temperature inside a refrigerator when the wrap is in direct contact with the fatty food.
Authors of the book lament: "Surprisingly, even when packaging products are labeled ‘microwavable’ or ‘microwave safe,’ that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are safe for use in the microwave. These are industry claims – the FDA doesn’t guarantee them. Housewares don’t have to meet the same FDA standards as food-product packaging, and there are no standard industry-wide tests to ensure that they won’t leach contaminants into your food."
So what do we do?
• Either don’t buy these foods (in heat-susceptor packages) or put them in other containers (preferably oven-proof glass) before you cook them.
• Make sure that no foods touch plastic wrap during microwaving. Or simply stick to oven-proof glass containers and glass covers. Never use flimsy plastic containers like yogurt cups or margarine tubs in your microwave.
Here are more hot tips on microwaving, again from Safe Food:
• Use your microwave only if the door closes easily and tightly; don’t use it if an object is caught in the door, or if the door is otherwise damaged. If there are any signs of rusting on the oven, have it repaired.
• If your children operate your microwave oven, make sure they know how to operate it properly. Kids have been burned by microwaved jelly doughnuts (the jelly inside can be burning hot even if the outside dough feels cool). Also teach them to be careful to avoid burns from steam coming from bags of microwaved popcorn.
• To avoid accidents, puncture foods such as potatoes, tomatoes, sausages, etc. before cooking them, and don’t use the microwave for deep frying.
• To protect infants against burns, never warm baby bottles in the microwave.
• Be patient – wait for food to be microwaved long enough to kill all the bacteria. It is extremely important to cook prepared foods according to instructions, to reheat leftovers thoroughly, and to follow any instructions calling for food to stand after you take it out of the microwave. This additional time is necessary for the food to finish cooking.
• Take special care when microwaving meat, poultry, or fish to ensure that they are cooked thoroughly. De-bone large pieces of meat. Turn meat, poultry, or fish several times during cooking and use a temperature probe or meat thermometer in a few places to check the internal temperature for doneness. Cook both beef and pork to an internal temperature of at least 160°F, so that they are slightly pink inside. Cook poultry to 180°F and fish to 140°F.
Cover your cooking dish with an oven-proof glass top (the steam that accumulates will heat the surface of the food, so it cooks more evenly).
• Don’t cook whole, stuffed poultry in a microwave (the warm, moist conditions in the stuffing, combined with uneven cooking, create perfect conditions for bacterial growth).
• When you defrost food in a microwave, finish cooking it immediately. Also, be sure to remove food from store wrap or foam trays before thawing it in a microwave.
• Yes, do use your microwave to cook vegetables as microwaving retains more vitamins and minerals than conventional cooking does because microwave cooking time is shorter and less water is used.
While we’re hot and heavy on the topic of food gadgets, here’s what’s safe and not in cookware, according to authors Michael Jacobson, Lisa Lefferts and Anne Witte Garland:
• Stainless steel: It’s perfectly safe for most people. But for people who are allergic to nickel, eating food with a high nickel content – including acidic foods such as stewed tomatoes cooked in stainless-steel cookware – may aggravate symptoms of dermatitis.
• Cast iron: An excellent choice, it’s safe and can even be a source of needed iron in the diet.
• Copper: Don’t use it if it’s unlined (most good quality copperware is lined with tin or stainless steel). Acidic foods can cause copper to be released from the cookware into the food. Although our bodies need a little copper, too much can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
• Aluminum: 20 years from now, scientists may yet prove that aluminum causes Alzheimer’s disease. But right now, the evidence linking aluminum to Alzheimer’s disease is not that strong (though Alzheimer’s patients have been found to have elevated levels of aluminum in their brains) for you to throw out your aluminum pots and pans.
• Teflon: Avoid scratching the pan with metal utensils so you don’t eat Teflon particles in your food (don’t worry, the particles won’t be absorbed by your body) and don’t impair the pan’s "nonstick" property. Just don’t use Teflon cookware for broiling, and don’t leave it unattended at high heat because it may give off fumes.
• Ceramic: According to the FDA, avoid ceramic cookware from Mexico, China, India, and Hong Kong because of the possibility that it may leach dangerous amounts of lead into your food.
Happy cooking!
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