Is it safe to use a Teflon rice cooker?
In the past few years there have been several
warnings about the dangers of consuming foods that have been cooked on
Teflon. Recent scientific studies have shown that Teflon, when heated, can
emit a toxic substance that is not fatal but that can cause health symptoms
that resemble those of a severe flu, and can possibly damage organs if
consumed over the long term.
Teflon has been a mainstay in the rice cooker field
for decades. These days it is more common to find a rice cooker that uses
Teflon than one that doesn’t. And despite the safety concerns, most new
models of rice cookers continue to have Teflon coated pans. This leads to
the question: Are these concerns justified? Is it possible that Teflon rice
cookers are unsafe?
Why Rice Cookers Use Teflon
Rice has a tendency to stick to the pans it is
cooked in. Not only is rice by its very nature sticky, but the heating
method used to cook the rice in a rice cooker can cause rice to burn to the
bottom of many of the less expensive rice cooker pans. If the pan is not
made of some type of non-stick surface, this can:
·
Waste rice
·
Make cleanup more difficult
·
Cause difficulty serving
As an alternative, Teflon is useful. Burning is
still a concern/possibility in many of the less expensive models, but the
rice is far easier to both serve and clean, making a non-stick surface a
greatly preferable option.
Why is Teflon Dangerous?
Recent studies have shown that when Teflon is
heated to roughly 500 degrees, the compound starts to deteriorate. An aspect
of Teflon known as perfluorooctanoic acid has been characterized as a likely
carcinogen by the EPA. This possible carcinogen has been shown to be deadly
to birds, but causes nothing worse than flu-like symptoms in humans. Still,
as with all carcinogens, long term exposure poses a significant concern.
Are Teflon Pots in Rice Cookers Dangerous?
Despite the possible risks of the perfluorooctanoic
acid carcinogen in Teflon, all available evidence says that no, Teflon pots
are not dangerous. This is true for several reasons:
·
Rice cookers only heat up to 212
degrees Fahrenheit – well short of the 500 degrees necessary to cause
breakdown to the Teflon compound. Rice cookers also turn off once the rice
is done, and the “keep warm” features of these systems never reach more than
230 degrees.
·
The likely carcinogen is part of the
manufacturing process, not entire part of the compound in general. As a
result, there is barely a trace left in the Teflon by the time it gets to
your door.
The FDA, despite concerns about the chemical
compound in general (which the DuPont Teflon manufacturers plan on removing
within the next decade) see no risk in consuming foods off a Teflon pan, and
all available scientific evidence supports the idea that consuming foods off
a Teflon rice cooker is acceptable for everyday use.
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