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Experts raise concerns about dangerous health risk caused by popular cookware: 'Manipulated ... to give you the impression that it's [safe]'

The FDA's oversight of cookware safety is spotty at best.

The FDA's oversight of cookware safety is spotty at best.

Photo Credit: iStock

Ceramic cookware has been increasingly popular in recent years as consumers sought PFAS-free alternatives to Teflon products, but regulators are scrutinizing those marketing claims, according to the Guardian.

What's happening?

"Nonstick cookware" has long been virtually synonymous with Teflon, a substance created "accidentally" by DuPont in the late 1930s.

Teflon cookware dominated kitchens for decades — but in 2005, documents attesting to the adverse effects of the "forever chemicals" it contains were made public during a class action lawsuit, and shoppers slowly began to explore alternative forms of nonstick cookware.

In an era of influencer-driven marketing, supposed "green alternatives" to Teflon pots and pans began popping up everywhere, in trendy colors and at a premium price. 

"Ceramic" quickly became a buzzword associated with "safer cookware," but as the Guardian observed, marketing terms like "ceramic" and "nonstick" are not often legally defined.

"All told, there's evidence that the pans could contain such ingredients as titanium dioxide, lead, mercury, cadmium, siloxanes, potentially toxic monomer byproducts, and other unknown substances," the outlet reported.

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In other words, regulators worry that much of this "ceramic" cookware is merely marketed as a safer alternative without truly being one, one of the practices under the umbrella of "greenwashing."

Why is greenwashing cookware so concerning?

Few things in our day-to-day environment have the kind of direct impact that food — and by extension, cookware and serveware — has on human health and well-being.

"No federal limits for lead in ceramic cookware exist. If lead in a ceramic piece isn't leaching at the time a consumer buys it, then there isn't a problem, [per] the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)," the Guardian reported, citing their own related reporting from 2022.

Rich Bergstrom owns Xtrema, which the outlet said is "one of [the] very few companies" currently producing true ceramic cookware, instead of compound materials or "quasi-ceramic" pots and pans

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He expressed disdain for the "false" marketing terms when he spoke to the paper: "[It] irks me — it drives me crazy." 

Bergstrom was frustrated that cookware misleadingly marketed as ceramic was "manipulated from a marketing standpoint to give you the impression that it's [safer]."

Ultimately, consumers can't easily avoid contaminants in cookware if marketing terminology isn't properly regulated.

What's being done about contaminants in cookware?

As the Guardian observed, the FDA's oversight of cookware safety is spotty at best — but lawmakers in New York State recently proposed a ban on the manufacture and sale of Teflon.

Upgrading your cookware over time can limit individual exposure to Teflon, and safer, high-quality pieces often can be thrifted.

Stainless steel cookware and cast iron enamelware are both popular alternatives, typically free of PFAS.

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