What you should know when choosing healthy frying pans and cookware

Laila Meija, dietitian and assistant professor of the Department of Sports and Nutrition, Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare, Rīga Stradiņš University, when talking about frying pans and cookware of different materials, emphasises the aspects which should be taken into account to ensure that food that is prepared or kept in these pans or dishes does not do any harm to one's health.

"Lately, cooking has been discussed in the mass media very often, and everybody understands how important food is to maintain one's health and beauty, but the cookware and cooking methods are just as important," says assistant professor Laila Meija.

Frying pans with Teflon coating. "As obesity becomes more frequent, everybody talks about cooking with as less fat as possible. Thus, non-stick frying pans were introduced, Teflon pans being the most popular among them. The instruction manuals for such pans say that they must not be used if canaries are present on the premises – these birds are very sensitive and may die in few minutes. A question arises: how come these "healthy" pans kill birds?

A Teflon pan gives off a very toxic gas at high temperatures. One of such gases is perfluorooctanoic acid, abbreviated as PFOA. There have been studies that prove that it causes cancer, liver damage, hereditary pathologies and obesity. "Lately, however, more and more frying-pans without this hazardous substance can be found in shops."

What can we do to not harm our health with such non-stick frying pans?

• Do not heat an empty frying pan!
• Do not pour cold water in a hot frying pan!
• Do not expose food to temperatures that are too high!
• Ventilate premises!
• Do not burn food!
• Choose a heavier frying pan as the risk of overheating is less!
• Store your frying pans so that they do not get scratched, for instance, do not put one pan into another!

Stainless steel frying pans and cookware. Very widely used and good material, however, "one has to remember that when heated – these pans give off hazardous metals – iron, chrome, also nickel". The most important thing to remember – sour and salted products must not be kept in stainless steel cookware, and it is important to care for the coating of a pan – it must be wiped and washed only in water without any special detergents.

Cast iron pans and cookware. Do not cook food in oil in such dishes, wash them only in water without any detergents.

Aluminium pans and dishes. Easy to use, but "aluminium is a material that reacts with food most actively ". Studies show that food that is prepared in aluminium cookware has an adverse effect on the nervous system, brain, etc. Laila Meija advises not to cook food in such cookware for a long time and not to keep sour products in them.

Ceramics. It is safer to buy industrially-manufactured ceramics, one has to be very careful with home-produced cookware; orange, red and yellow glazing is especially dangerous, they should not be used for cooking or storing food for long periods of time.

Copper and brass cookware. Although these dishes are nice, the assistant professor advises to use them as interior decorations rather than for cooking. Still, if you use them for cooking, make sure the surface is not damaged.

Silicon cookware. "Until now, there is no information about any health hazards caused by silicon cookware.”

Assistant professor Laila Meija advises everyone to examine their pans, pots and dishes, leaving only the ones that are in good condition or buy some new cookware.

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