The rice cooker we use every day actually causes cancer? Can we still use it for cooking?

Braised chicken legs with rice, sweet and sour pork ribs, dry-pot chicken wings...even quick braised dishes, there is nothing that a rice cooker can’t make, except what you can’t think of!

After all, many "kitchen killers" fail in controlling the heat. Cooking with a rice cooker is different. You can just put the ingredients and seasonings you need in it. If you are too lazy to wash the dishes, you can just eat from the pot.

It is also very friendly to working people. You can set the timer before going out in the morning, and then you can eat when you get home from get off work. Love it!

So the question is, does frequent use of a rice cooker cause cancer? Can it be used to cook? What is the correct way to open it? Through this article, let's answer them one by one -

01

Do rice cookers cause cancer?

At the end of last year, the saying "World Health Organization calls for stopping the use of rice cookers, which may be a catalyst for liver cancer" began to circulate online.

This has caused many people to doubt the safety of rice cookers. After all, it is an electrical appliance used by every household every day. How could it cause cancer?

First of all, looking at the source, we did not find any relevant content on the WHO official website.

If we look into the principle, we can’t do without the “coating” and “liner” that are in direct contact with food. Whether it is the aluminum-based liner used in old-fashioned rice cookers or the spherical liner used in new-style rice cookers, coating is used to make it “non-stick”.

The most common non-stick coating is PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), which is also known as Teflon.

The PTFE coating itself is extremely stable, acid and alkali resistant, and has good flame retardancy and anti-stickiness. It is one of the best corrosion-resistant materials in the world today.

In the early production process of PTFE, the auxiliary agent PFOA was needed. It belongs to PFAS and is a persistent organic pollutant.

Studies have shown that once this substance enters nature, it will be difficult to decompose and will eventually accumulate in the human body for a long time, leading to low birth weight of infants, affecting the immune system, and increasing the risk of cancer.

This is also the source of the "non-stick coating causes cancer theory", but domestic control is currently relatively strict, and there are also clear regulations on this abroad, so there is no need to panic too much.

We have a detailed popular science in 20 years, click on the picture below to jump directly to read↓↓↓

02

Rice Cooker

Is it safe to cook?

Even if the non-stick coating itself is safe, the problem of coating wear and tear must be considered during daily use.

In the non-stick pan science popularization mentioned above, we also received a rice cooker pot (No. 3) from a fan that had been used for 7 or 8 years and had heavy scratches. After measurement with an XRF scanner, it was confirmed that the base material of the pot was aluminum.

Will such rice cookers release heavy metals during use? We sent it to the laboratory for testing and found that the amount of soluble aluminum (AI) detected was 2.23 mg/kg. According to EU requirements, it is qualified within 5 mg/kg.

However, based on the comparison between samples No. 1 and No. 2, it can be found that the detection results of soluble aluminum increased significantly after the inner liner was worn by steel wool.

We then tested the non-volatile substances that may migrate from the inner pot to the food after simulating the boiling of the food. According to the national food contact regulations GB 4806, which requires 10mg/dm², the inner pot of the No. 3 rice cooker has exceeded the standard.

In short, there is no need to worry too much when the non-stick coating is intact; but when the coating is severely damaged, it is easy to cause various substances such as the additives inside the coating or the metal of the underlying substrate to dissolve.

03

Rice Cooker

Correct way to open

Cooking

When cooking with an electric rice cooker, you need to be careful with harder ingredients, especially foods with shells or bones, such as clams, mussels, ribs, spine, etc. Try to avoid stirring them multiple times during serving and cooking.

If the rice cooker has accessories, you can buy an extra stainless steel inner pot specifically for cooking.

Cleaning

When cleaning the inner pot, try not to use sharp tools such as steel wool; if there are burnt or cracked spots, it is recommended to soak it in hot water and then scrub it several times with a sponge. Do not force it.

use

When the coating of kitchen utensils such as rice cookers and non-stick pans is severely scratched and starts to stick to the pan, it is best to stop using it and consider replacing it.

This time, friends who like to use rice cookers to make quick and easy dishes can finally rest assured!

For those kitchen novices who have never tried cooking with a rice cooker, you must give it a try. Your journey into the kitchen (frying) begins now!

As for the rice cooker inner pot and non-stick pan at home that have already lost paint and serious scratches, it is better to replace them as soon as possible.

Editor | Yuanyuan

Design | Sour