Best Ways To Reduce Microplastics In Food

“You are what you eat.”

Modern advancements in technology and production have given us great new tools that we use daily for preparing and serving homemade food. While these many advancements are now enjoyed, they are unfortunately not all without caveats when it comes to our goal of avoiding getting microplastics in our food.

In this article we will discuss the most common ways you may be unknowingly dosing yourself with microplastics through non-stick pans, plastic food storage containers, unsafe utensils, and more - and most importantly how you can make changes today in your kitchenware to safely feed you and your family.

Why you should carefully reconsider your kitchenware selection.

As we mentioned in our Going Microplastic-Free Guide, we discussed the importance of first tackling our major sources of microplastics in daily living - filtering your water, filtering your air, and even what you wear.

Microplastics in our system, regardless of how we absorb them, can lead to a plethora of hormone and fertility issues and perhaps more problems than that of what we currently understand.

However if you are looking to continue reducing your microplastic exposure, you may need to replace or minimize the use of several kitchen appliances and items. Fortunately we will also be providing convenient (and relatively inexpensive!) solutions to keep our microplastic exposure to a minimum.

Here is a quick run-down of what we should replace:

Teflon non-stick pans
Plastic tupperware
Plastic/silicone cooking utensils, cutting boards, and strainers

1. Retire your Teflon (non-stick) pans and pots.

First up is the conventional non-stick pan. Not to be confused with ceramic pans, which are regarded as safe due to having a non-plastic-based coating, “Teflon” pans are metal pans with a polyfluorinated compounds (PFAS) coating for its incredible non-stick and non-staining properties.

The class of chemicals that is PFAS has been linked to abnormal human health issues for the microplastics they shed into our food and air with use, but it is still present to this day in almost every household for their admittedly incredible capabilities. They even cause ecological harm as we continue to discover more each year about how PFAS interact with wildlife and our environment.

It might be hard to remove these housewarming gifts from your kitchen, but it will be necessary if you are trying to take microplastic exposure seriously.

Thankfully we have three options for replacing these pesky pans, depending on your cooking style and needs - cast iron, stainless steel, and ceramic pans.

Cast iron ($20+): Cast iron pans are a classic option if you want the cheapest and most accessible replacement as soon as possible. Even though they require additional steps for proper care such as seasoning and washing, they are truly indestructible and can be recovered from any state.

Since they have been so common in our parents’ time and beyond, it’s very easy to find cheap second hand cast iron pans on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, if you are really trying to save a buck.

Personally, I swear by cast iron panware for almost every meal, and even use it for acidic recipes such as meat sauces that are technically not the best for the well-sought after perfectly seasoned pan.

Stainless steel ($40+): Stainless steel pans and pots are significantly lighter than cast iron and can be cleaned in a dishwasher without worry about maintaining a seasoned layer. However, they are more expensive and are not as ideal for foods that require long periods of consistent surface temperature.

Stainless steel is commonly used for sauteing and elements of recipes that require a quick cooking time, and simply look beautiful to hang in the kitchen.

Ceramic ($30+): Ceramic is a great choice for those who yearn for a good non-stick surface without PFAS. These pans will still degrade over time like teflon pans but not shed the same harmful materials we aim to avoid in the first place.

When shopping for a new ceramic pan or pot, it is essential to carefully select those without another culprit, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) which is a synthetic fluoropolymer that can leech microplastics similarly to PFAS.

Worry not, as we kept that into consideration when selecting our recommended ceramic options.

2. Replace plastic tupperware and food storage.

The second biggest offender that is leaching plastic into the foods we eat are plastic tupperware containers and plastic bags, single use or ‘reusable’ silicone bags.

It is an inconvenient truth that these extremely useful plastic containers are simply not good for your health. Like how plastic water bottles shed microplastics into the liquids they contain, these kitchen essentials are no exception.

Not only do plastic containers add microplastics to our stored food, but these containers fare even worse when heated, such as reheating meal prepped food in the microwave.

Silicone is considered the next best option, but still has been shown to release plastic particles into our food.

Glass ($30+): Tupperware made from glass is pretty much our only option on this front. Although glass can be far more fragile, with the right purchase we can get quality glassware that will allow us to safely store and reheat foods without the threat of microplastic exposure.

Glass tupperware options might still sport a plastic lid, but in our glass tupperware recommendations article we go over options for those who are willing to compromise some plastic contact verses for those who want a fully non-plastic kitchen.

3. Toss your plastic cooking utensils, cutting boards, and strainers.

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Most kitchens will have plastic spatulas and spoons in their utensil inventory. These utensils are often silicone which has been found to still shed small amounts of plastic into our foods, and even more so when in contact against hot surfaces.

Refer to our article on silicone to learn more about how it might be safer than conventional plastic materials but still suboptimal for our goal of avoiding microplastics.

The use case for silicone spatulas in particular are for non-stick pans, since a more abrasive option such as a stainless steel spatula will scrape off the surface coating. Since we already replaced our teflon pans, however, we no longer need a ‘soft’ option, unless we were using a ceramic enameled pot or pan.

So for most cases, we can opt for a stainless steel utensil when scraping our pans and a wooden one for when we need to keep in mind the surface cohesion of our pans.

Stainless steel ($10+): Any stainless steel utensil/spatula will work here, as the construction is largely the same across different brands.

Wood ($10+): If needed, there are plenty of wooden spatula and spoon options, and you can even score a good set for as little as 10 to 15 bucks.

The next common plastic item in the kitchen are plastic cutting boards. They are easy to wash, are usually dishwasher-safe, and incredibly cheap. However, they can still be a villain when it comes to invading our foods with microplastics.

Literally, when using a knife against plastic, we are cutting small indentations into the surface and subsequently chopping off tiny (to large!) pieces of plastic that go directly into our prepared food.

For this replacement, we would simply recommend a wooden cutting board if you don’t already own one.

Wood ($15+): Wooden cutting boards are already quite cheap and come in many different sizes - should be easy to find exactly what you need for a relatively low price point.

Finally, our last major microplastic source in the kitchen is the plastic pasta strainer. Pouring over hot water and food into a plastic strainer will surely leach plastics into your food. This is an easy replacement - opt for stainless steel construction strainers and strainer attachments. Luckily, you should only need one for most if not all use cases.

Stainless steel ($15+): Coming in all shapes and sizes, there are a multitude of options that anyone can buy today.

4. Avoid single-use plastic eating utensils and don’t stress the rest.

At this point we have eliminated almost all plastic from our kitchen. Keep up your plan to reduce microplastic exposure by using metal knives, forks, and spoons and don’t worry about the items you can’t replace.

I still love my high-end Vitamix blender with a plastic container and my Zojirushi rice cooker that uses a non-stick pot. There are compromises you should be willing to consider at the end of the day for your use cases. If you have followed the rest of this guide closely leading up to this point, you are already greatly reducing your microplastic intake.

We will be writing more articles on the prevalence of microplastics in the food we buy off the shelves at a later date, but similarly, do not stress what you cannot control for now.