Is the liner of the rice cooker toxic or carcinogenic? Can the scratched coating still work? Experiments tell you the answer

Ding dong! A message popped up on Xiao Liu's phone, and it turned out that her mother had forwarded an article to her.

When he saw the title of the article, Xiao Liu was speechless for a moment - "World Health Organization Calls: Stop Using Rice Cookers, Or a 'Catalyst' for Liver Cancer".

After that, my mother continued to send messages, "Look at how bad the unscrupulous merchants are now. The rice cooker made can actually cause cancer. Can this rice cooker continue to be used in the future?"

So Xiao Liu called her mother and patiently explained to her that these were all rumors and should not be believed at will.

As a result, he was interrupted before he finished speaking, "Do you remember that Uncle Liu who hugged you when you were a child? I heard that he passed away because of liver cancer a few months ago, so it's not because of this rice cooker, right? It's terrifying..."

Xiao Liu is very helpless. Every household has a rice cooker and uses it every day. How could it cause cancer?

1. The liner of the rice cooker is the "catalyst" of liver cancer?

At the end of last year, there was a saying on the Internet that "World Health Organization calls: stop using rice cookers". However, from the perspective of the source, no relevant content was retrieved by logging in to the WHO official website.

At present, the inner pots of rice cookers on the market are common aluminum inner pots, stainless steel inner pots, and alloy inner pots. Some innovative products use ceramic inner pots, glass inner pots, etc.

However, most households mainly use aluminum liner + coating . This combination is evenly heated and has fast heat transfer. It is the preferred material for rice cooker liner.

The reason for the statement that "rice cookers can cause cancer" is mainly related to the fact that the coating used in the aluminum liner is generally "Teflon".

Since the aluminum liner is in direct contact with food, a chemical reaction will occur, and aluminum is easy to precipitate and enter the food. Excessive intake of aluminum can cause damage to the nervous system. Therefore, the coating is used to separate the metal aluminum. direct contact with food .

In order to ensure food safety, the "Teflon" commonly used in aluminum liner is actually a perfluorinated polymer, which has the advantages of acid resistance, non-toxicity, not easy to decompose, and high temperature resistance (<250 degrees Celsius) .

Generally, the internal temperature of the rice cooker is less than 180 degrees Celsius, so as long as the inner liner coating does not fall off, the rice cooker will not precipitate toxic substances, and it will not cause cancer.

2. Can the inner bladder still be used after scratching? Experiments tell you the answer

As the use time gets longer and longer, the inner liner of the rice cooker will inevitably scratch or fall off the inner liner coating, but many people still choose to continue to use it. Will this be harmful?

Consumer Reports conducted an experiment to see if scratched inners could continue to be used.

The reporter purchased 8 different brands of rice cookers and 3 different brands of rice cooker inner pots from the market, and sent them to a third-party authoritative organization for testing.

After scratching the inner pots of 11 rice cookers with steel balls 150 times (simulated use for half a year) and 300 times (simulated use for one year), the results of one brand of rice cookers show that the total migration of the inner pot of the rice cooker is 14mg/dm², 19mg/dm² .

At present, the country has strict regulations on the total migration of non-stick coatings, and the total migration of food contact coatings and coatings should be ≤10 mg/dm².

According to the migration amount shown by the test, it is obviously higher than the standard limit. If you continue to use the rice cooker with worn coating, it may cause harm to the body——

For adults, long-term intake of too much aluminum can increase neurological lesions and increase the risk of Alzheimer's . It will also affect the human body's absorption of trace elements, causing bone damage and deformation, leading to osteoporosis, osteomalacia and other diseases.

3. How to use the rice cooker? do 3 things less

In order to prolong the service life of the rice cooker, the maintenance of the inner pot is very important. It is recommended to avoid doing the following things on the inner pot every day as much as possible:

1. Avoid cooking acidic foods

Hot and sour noodles, Mala Tang, sweet and sour pork ribs... Only you can't think of it, there is no rice cooker that can't be cooked! However, if the rice cooker is often used to cook acidic foods, the acidic substances are likely to enter the coating along the pores of the inner pot , accelerating the peeling of the coating.

2. Avoid using metal shovels

The edge of the metal shovel is relatively sharp, and it directly touches the inner pot of the rice cooker, which is easy to scratch and cause the coating to fall off. It is best to use a wooden spatula or a silicone rice spoon for rice cookers .

3. Avoid cleaning with steel balls

Many people like to clean with steel balls when washing dishes, but steel balls are also very harmful to the liner, and it is easy to make the coating fall off during friction. When cleaning, it is best to clean with a sponge or soft cloth.

The rice cooker also has a service life, and the general reasonable use time is 3-5 years. If used for a long time, there may be some wear and tear on the inner liner coating, which is not conducive to ensuring the safety of food.

The last thing I need to remind is that friends who like to use rice cookers to cook must pay attention to their strength and avoid multiple stirrings when cooking hard ingredients, such as shellfish, shrimp, and food with bones . If the rice cooker has optional accessories, it is best to buy an extra inner pot, which is specially used for cooking.

When it is found that the coating has serious scratches, even if it has not been used for 3-5 years, it is best to stop using it and consider replacing it.

References:

[1] "The "rice cooker" used every day actually causes cancer? Can it still be used for cooking? 》. Dad Evaluation. 2022-04-07

[2] "Comparative evaluation of 11 rice cookers: Haier's cooking is delicious, but Philips' inner liner is scratched and "exceeds the standard". Consumer Report. 2020-09-07

[3] "Can a rice cooker cause cancer? If this happens, throw it away...". Morning News. 2021-12-28

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