Aluminum cookware is unhealthy - is it another lie or is it true?

Aluminum utensils are today in almost any kitchen. Just Modern technology allows us to produce it with an attractive appearance, beyond which consumers do not always recognize this metal. But many people are afraid to buy “clear aluminum” because of the prevailing opinion that it can be dangerous to our health. How harmful is cooking in aluminum cookware?

Attractive properties of aluminum

Our mothers and grandmothers used such dishes very actively until the idea of ​​its harm gained popularity. Why did such pots and pans so attract the housewives?

• Aluminum utensils are very light, it is easy to rearrange them during cooking, just wash, conveniently stacked for storage on shelves in piles.
• Such dishes are affordable.
• Corrosion resistant - that is, it will not rust.
• The indisputable advantage of aluminum is its excellent thermal conductivity, which ensures uniform heating of products, makes it possible to cook food much faster, without spending too much time heating up the packaging itself. In addition, the risk of burning in such pots or pans is lower than, for example, in enameled ones.

Aluminum dishes of the “older generation” were most often produced from pure aluminum, which was why it was frankly soft and deformed quite quickly. Modern technologies allow it to be produced in the form of harder alloys with magnesium, silicon, steel, cast iron. Cast iron alloy guarantees long-term heat storage, and steel alloy - higher strength and durability of such dishes.

Debunking Myths

The main prejudice that makes housewives prefer more expensive aluminum utensils made from other materials is the assertion that aluminum can have a harmful effect on our health. Is it really? Not at all. And that's why.

Direct contact of products with aluminum during cooking is virtually eliminated due to the presence of a thin oxide layer, which forms naturally on the surface of the metal when it comes in contact with oxygen. Sometimes it is created in production by force, by the anodization method - such an oxide layer is thicker and more reliable.

Recently, scientists have proved that the maximum "portion" of metal that can be ingested when cooked is not more than 3 mg. And the volume dangerous to human health is 10 times larger. Even taking into account the fact that every day we get some part of aluminum from food and water, this is a completely harmless amount.

In addition, the World Health Organization has proven that aluminum is not a carcinogenic metal. Accordingly, all fears that it can cause cancerous tumors are completely groundless.

So everyone who was against aluminum in the kitchen should at least reconsider their views.

And the established stereotype that such dishes have a “state-owned” appearance today does not correspond to reality: it is produced with very decorative external coatings that do not have direct contact with products and, therefore, do not affect their properties, but give the dishes themselves a modern expensive view. For example:

• food-safe varnish;
• crockery enamel;
• porcelain suspension.

Of course, such pots or pans are slightly more expensive than those that do not have a decorative coating, but the dishes with a strong decorative coating will not fade over time. The choice between them, as they say, is a matter of taste and opportunity.

What, then, is harm?

Anything can turn out to be harmful under one important condition: improper operation.The same rule applies to aluminum utensils. If several important conditions of use are not observed, the oxide layer is destroyed and direct contact of the metal with food begins, which can already have a bad effect on the human body (although the oncology provocation is still out of the question).

The worst thing that can happen is food poisoning. What are our actions leading to this?

• Cooking in such utensils dishes containing acidic ingredients (lemon, vinegar, tomatoes, sour fruits). That is, meat marinated in vinegar (or even kefir) cannot be fried in an aluminum pan. And in aluminum pots you can’t cook stewed fruit, jelly, preserves, borscht. However, one loophole in this rule exists: if the pan or pan has a non-stick coating, direct food contact with aluminum is excluded, and cooking acidic foods becomes safe. In this case, all the useful properties of the metal are preserved. But the prepared dish must be immediately transferred to another container.
• The use of aluminum containers for salting, pickling and pickling products. After all, even if the recipe does not contain citric acid or vinegar, acid will inevitably be formed in the process of pickling or pickling. Accordingly, the oxide layer will quickly collapse, and the products will begin to react with aluminum, forming harmful compounds and increasing the concentration of aluminum itself in food.
• Long-term storage of cooked dishes in aluminum containers. This leads to the fact that the products nevertheless destroy the protective layer and react with the metal. The implications of this are described above.
• Use for cleaning such utensils abrasive substances or metal washcloths. This leads to the rapid destruction of the oxide layer and damage to the inner surface, due to which the amount of metal entering the food can increase. Only clean aluminum with soft sponges and liquid dishwashing detergents. If something burns to such dishes, it is better to soak it for several hours or even at night, but do not rub it with sand, a metal brush and other scratching agents or objects.

If you only have an aluminum pan for pickling in your household of the right size, put all the ingredients in two plastic bags and then lower them into a container. In this case, contact with the metal can be avoided, and your products will not be affected. True, there is one more condition: the inner surface of such dishes should not have any burrs, roughness or other damage that can be torn packages, for example, during mixing. If this happens, you will have to urgently "relocate" the workpiece to another container.

What can I cook?

As already clear, you can cook any dishes for which no acids are used (vegetables, fruits, dairy, vinegar). It can be various cereals and soups, potatoes (both mashed potatoes - in a pan, and fried - in a pan), non-acidic vegetables, dairy dishes, any pasta, fish, meat, eggs, mushrooms.

So, contrary to the established "reinforced concrete" stereotype of terrible diseases caused by the use of aluminum utensils, in fact there is nothing terrible or harmful in it. Unless, of course, observe basic rules of use. But they are not so complicated.