A disturbing exposé in The Atlantic magazine revealed this week that a common kitchen utensil could be potentially leaking dangerous chemicals into your food.
As The Atlantic reported, many people use black plastic kitchen utensils when cooking.
Especially as more people use nonstick pans, many have switched from metal utensils to plastic ones. A common, inexpensive plastic cooking utensil is a black plastic spatula.
However, the exposé showed that there is very little regulation on where the plastic in these utensils comes from. Scientists have investigated and found that many black plastic kitchen utensils are secretly made from recycled electronic waste.
The casings for televisions and other plastic materials are recycled into food products, often without disclosure.
The problem is that these electronic parts often contain potentially hazardous chemicals, including flame retardants, which are designed to make TVs safer in everyday operation.
These chemicals were not intended for food use. When recycled into utensils like black plastic spatulas and then used in hot cooking oil, the heat encourages the chemicals to leach into food.
Based on the exposé, The Atlantic advised people to throw away their black plastic cooking utensils. Alternatives would be wooden or metal utensils.
If you have been using one of these utensils in your kitchen, though, it may not be catastrophic. As the exposé showed, the presence of dangerous chemicals in cooking utensils is relatively inconsistent. It’s possible that some black plastic utensils are made from safe plastic and are not contaminated.
To be safe, though, switching to wooden utensils or at least using plastic ones from a reputable brand is likely a better option for your family.
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