Does seasoning or curing cookware carcinogenic?

Question

People are turning away from teflon because it emits supposedly toxic and carcinogenic fumes. But I heard that the vapors and seasoning substance of a seasoned pan when browned in or when the pan is smoking is more carcinogenic than teflon. This was shown in an experiment in the 50's.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/CONSUMER/CON00036.html

"When heated for long periods at high temperatures, the resin decomposes.
However, a 1959 study, conducted before FDA approved the material for use in
food processing equipment, showed that the toxicity of fumes given off by
the coated pan on dry heating was less than that of fumes given off by
ordinary cooking oils. The study, conducted by the Haskell Laboratory for
Toxicology and Industrial Medicine, compared effects of inhaling of fumes
from resin-coated pans that were overheated?for four hours at 250 degrees
Celsius (482 degrees Farenheit) with corn oil, peanut oil, and butter."

Answer 1

I have always cured my iron skillets and have never thought about it causing a problem. However I have searched the web and cant located any info on it. But I did find a cookware that doesnt have teflon or need to be seasoned.


http://www.knifemerchant.com/products.asp?manufacturerID=97

Answer 2

Well I'm not sure about those teflons, I've always been wary but only use mine when I'm concerned about the outcome (like an omlette keeping together). As for seasoning pans...well, if you have cast iron, you're supposed to season it by oiling and warming it in an oven. After that you are NOT supposed to dishwasher or soap it, b/c then you have to season it again. You can rinse and wipe (and scrape the really hard to remove stuff) and leave it be. If you do this right your pan will blacken but be clean on the inside, while being kinda of blackened and crusty looking on the outside as it is used. No one wants to cook or eat from a grubby, stouck on old food pot/pan. The only thing that leeches out of those pans are trace amounts of iron, which is not harmful to us. I have been using a big black cast iron pan that must be at least 50 years old. It was my mothers. But by its looks, it could have been my grandmothers. I also prefer my stainless steel pans which I can clean with steeel wool.

Answer 3

I've never heard that, but I suppose it depends on what you're using to cure or season your cookware. For example, cast iron should be cured with a heavy fat. ie: bear fat. This can be substituted by using a heavy lard, or cooking oil, and heating it at a high temp. for several hours in the oven or on an open flame. Since this type of curing causes a lot of smoke, I myself use an outside fire or BBQ or outside brick oven. That keeps the house from getting smoked out and avoids any danger from inhaling the smoke.

Answer 4

basically pretty much anything we do will poison us, as long as you're not cooking with high heat you run less of a risk of these things. It's not really safe to cook at any tempurature above med-high, but if you do I have always been told to yse cast Iron, it seasons well and stands up to the heat better than steel or aluminum(to season a cast iron pan just take some olive oil and a little salt and blend it in a blender till the salt isn't gritty then after you wash your pan , put a couple of drops in the pan and rub it in with a paper towel.) This helps prevent food from sticking and also reduces the need for excess oils or butter creating healthier cooking.

Answer 5

Heating iron is not carcinogenic.
But seasoning a pan involves burning and smoking oil.
Burning anything in any way creates dioxins, which are
carcinogenic.
But the risk of getting cancer from seasoning a pan
is about the same as eating a peanut butter sandwich everyday.

Answer 6

unlikely to cause any problems. Just a thought to "stir the pot" though. Isn't it interesting that since 1950 the life expectancy world wide has increased, even though teflon exposure has become universal, and well seasoned pans are the goal of a lot of "sophisticated" cooks? Let's see, we have been told that all sorts of things are carcinogenic, we have been told first that egg yolks cause high cholesterol and now that they don't, we have been told to avoid beef, we have been told beef is okay, we have been told to avoid pork, now that pork is okay, we have been told a glass of wine a day is bad for you , that it is essential for you... I feel like the advice we get from our docs and nutritionists is not very reliable. I am watching my dad, who is 98, continue to eat wrong all the time and do very well... (It is interesting to note that he worked in the chemical industry for his carreer, and that he actually was in the factory manufacturing teflon for over thirty years, and has no ill effects in spite of exposure to the vapours and the finished products on a daily basis- doesn't seem to support the idea that the fumes and residues from cooking could be much of a problem... he uses well seasoned cast iron cooking utensils, by the way) His secret?- never smoked a cigarette in his life. To me, it looks like good genes and avoiding tobbacco are the key to longevity.

Answer 7

That is a really good Question !! I am using a Cast Iron Skillet that is about 70 Years old, i cant say that it has hurt me or others Health-wise. It's perfectly seasoned.

Answer 8

The information in that text is from a book written in 1990, and the study it's using in that excerpt is from 1959, before we knew how toxic perfluorooctanoic acid even was. Yes, burning oil releases free radicals and you may take some of that in from a seasoned pan (as well as anything you cooked), but it's not something floating around in your body like PFOA does for 25+ years causing all kinds of problems.

Answer 9

Fruits are identified as ripened flower ovaries which produce seeds.

Answer 10

I DONT KNOW