What About Eating Food Cooked in Teflon / Non-Stick Pan?

[WannaBeAParrot]

I am well aware of the dangers and horrible consequences of toxic fumes from Teflon and similar non-stick surfaces including pans, appliances, etc. I don't use any of this in my house, but after all these years, it just dawned on me that my mom cooks in the stuff all the time at her place and sometimes I bring home a "to go" container of this or that and will usually share some with Pritti because mom cooks healthy, tasty foods (except that they are cooked in toxic pans :-0 . Like some stir fry chicken and veg, or baked salmon, or a veggie omelet, a pancake, rice, etc.

I haven't been able to find much about whether eating small amounts of food cooked in "Teflon" is deadly/toxic too. I found only one thing on the web about that and it said it is "probably" okay for a bird to eat food cooked in Teflon.

Now that I realize what I've been doing, I'm going to cut it out. But, I still would like to know what you know about this subject. I think people don't think about it when they bring in food prepared by others, restaurants, etc. I didn't.

Thanks.

 

[henpecked]

My understanding is that teflon has to reach a temp of 400 F before it releases a gas that is toxic. If you were cooking at that temp maybe some could be absorbed into the food ,but the issue is a gas that attacks the lungs. I heard teflon accumulates in our bodies and doesn't break down. We ingest it and it doesn't "kill" us. IMO, in your situation, i don't think food would have enough teflon in it to harm birds but i'm no rocket scientist.

 

[cdog]

It does have to be heated to a certain temp to release the fumes, so if your mom is cooking with high temps I would advise her to stop because it is bad for her health too.
If it is heated above the temp then there will be fumes in the food so it would make it toxic. If it were me I wouldn't give my birds any food cooked on Teflon even if it was only cooked at 50 degrees, just to be safe.