Those who have been reading my letters for a long time already know that I love to spend time in the kitchen, cooking something delicious and healthy.
Well, it turns out that the kitchen is a quite dangerous place. Sharp knives, boiling water, hot oil in a frying pan…
But these are not the only dangers to your health and life.
There are toxic utensils that I never use in my kitchen, and I recommend that you avoid using them as well. So, let me tell you which kitchen items pose a threat to your health and which ones you should throw away right now.
1. Colored glassware
It should be understood that the paints used in the manufacture of glassware may contain lead and cadmium, which are very harmful to health.
The danger lies not only in the fact that pieces of paint can break off and get inside the body. Even simple touching of the toxic pattern is harmful, if it is repeated quite often. In addition, such dishes are harmful to the environment, where pieces of painted glass and ceramics fall.
It was also found that the concentration of harmful substances directly depends on the color of the paint. In particular, in gold, yellow, red, orange and green shades the content of cadmium and lead is noticeably higher than in blue and black. White paint turned out to be the least toxic. Regarding the period of use of such dishes, it does not affect its toxicity: over time, the release of harmful substances does not become less.
Safe colored glass can be considered Bohemian pink, green and red glass, which is colored with manganese, iron and copper.
2. Melamine dishes
At first glance, melamine tableware looks like porcelain. But it is easily recognized by its "weightlessness": it is very light. Virtually unbreakable, easy to use and cheap, melamine cookware is extremely dangerous to health. When melamine interacts with water, it releases formaldehyde, a mutagenic poison that accumulates in the body and stimulates immune system disorders. Formaldehyde is a strong allergen, can provoke eczema, upper respiratory tract diseases, eye irritation, as well as negatively affect the hematopoietic system, liver, spleen, kidneys and stomach. And also melamine, depending on the dyes used, releases heavy metals – lead, cadmium, manganese.
The same goes for the now popular melamine sponges: do not use them, their particles do not wash off the dishes at all.
3. Metal cookware
Such cookware is also harmful. When hot drinks and food are cooked in tin-plated copper cookware, metal ions are released into the liquid. It is not recommended to store cooked food in metal cookware and scratch the inside of the pots. Otherwise, metals can penetrate into the food and, as a consequence, into our body. It is especially dangerous to leave acidic and salty food in metal cookware: it is bound to absorb the huge amount of ions released.
4. Plastic utensils
Plastic utensils can be harmful if used inappropriately. There are special plastic utensils for cold food, and there are for hot food. And you should not use for hot dishes those meant for cold ones.Otherwise, harmful organic compounds will get into the food, which can adversely affect human health.
In addition, you cannot use plastic containers for long-term storage of food. They must necessarily have an expiration date on them. After the expiration date, plastic becomes dangerous – it must be thrown away.
Then what to use if almost all cookware is harmful, you ask?
So, for the sake of my family's health, I decided to use mostly porcelain, transparent glassware and clay dishes.
The characteristics of porcelain tableware include eco-friendliness, lightness and transparency. One of the important advantages of porcelain is that it keeps drinks and soups warm for a long time. Among the disadvantages of plates and cups made of porcelain can be noted high cost and relative difficulty in caring for it 🙁
Transparent glassware – the most convenient option for everyday use. Such dishes are quite environmentally friendly, long retain marketable appearance, do not absorb odors, and are easy to care for.
Clay pots are also safe and have been tested for thousands of years. Even if clay particles get into your body, you will not be poisoned, nothing terrible will happen. However, avoid cooking and eating from pottery decorated with bright colors.