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Throw Out Your Black Plastic Spatula (www.theatlantic.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by rimu@piefed.social to c/health@lemmy.world

77 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid.

In 2018, Turner published one of the earliest papers positing that black plastic products were likely regularly being made from recycled electronic waste. The clue was the plastic’s concerning levels of flame retardants. In some cases, the mix of chemicals matched the profile of those commonly found in computer and television housing, many of which are treated with flame retardants to prevent them from catching fire.

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[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

Food and two different metals at once (that also touch each other) shouldn't either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lyrj-CYC5I8

Basically, electrochemistry happens and the metal breaks down, seeping into the food. This is problematic for aluminum.

[–] Red_October@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Food should never touch anything artificial. If it hasn't been levitating since the day it was hand harvested from old growth forest, it's basically pure poison.

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech 8 points 3 weeks ago

I yeet my food so high it stays in the air/orbit just long enough before I plan to eat it. Sometimes, it hits wild geese on the way up and they get cooked during reentry.

[–] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This is very specific since he even build up a little rice tower pressing up against the foil.

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Well, you need wet food, metal and another metal all touching each other for this to happen. I've seen my sister make the mistake IRL so it certainly does.

[–] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

How did she manage to do it? I usually only see people use this example for topping half eaten pots, which means the amount of food in them should be far away from the aluminium foil.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

What kind of utter madman both (a) doesn't have matching lids for his pots and also (b) refuses to take the leftovers out of a pot (which is a vessel for cooking, not storage) and put them into a more appropriate container?

[–] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Wait until you find out that I even eat out of the pot!

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

One dirty pot meals. Depressed people have to eat, too.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I had this happen when I made a tomato-based dish in a cast iron pan, covered it with foil, and then stored it in the fridge. The aluminum was electroplated to the top of the food, and the pan had iron pits in the bottom.

Yes, I know I was bad for doing that to a cast iron pan. I was young and foolish.

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech 2 points 3 weeks ago

I don't blame you, very few people know this and it's not intuitive. With plastic items, everyone learns early that they don't take heat well. Arguably, it's not much of a problem anymore since every metal container and silverware is stainless steel and basically only aluminum foil remains. At least now you know why coins make that smell in a sweaty hand.