In the kitchen of almost every home, the rice cooker is a common household appliance. It simplifies the cooking process with one-touch operation, allowing us to easily make delicious rice without having to wait at the stove for long periods of time. But recently, there have been some concerns surrounding the health effects of rice cookers, specifically whether it increases the risk of cancer and uremia. This raises an important question: what cooking method should we choose to cook rice in order to maintain kidney health?
Why is it said that rice cookers are unhealthy for cooking
Usually, rice cookers are commonly used appliances in home kitchens, and their main function is to cook rice. However, choosing a low-quality rice cooker can have undesirable consequences. Here are some of the main problems that can arise when using a low-quality rice cooker:
Harmful Substance Release: Low-grade materials and thin coatings may be used in the inner layers of low-quality rice cookers, which are prone to wear or peel off under long-term high temperatures, mixing into food and increasing the risk of cancer.
Electrical safety hazards: This type of rice cooker may be prone to overheating or even short circuit due to the quality of the internal wires and heating elements, increasing the risk of explosion and fire.
Unpleasant odour: The lid of a low-quality rice cooker is prone to breakage and aging, and residual food debris can cause bacterial growth. Inferior seals can produce a pungent odor under high temperatures, which not only affects the taste of food, but can also be harmful to health.
Inaccurate temperature control: Rice cookers with poor temperature control performance can lead to uneven cooking of rice, resulting in uneven cooking of raw and cooked rice. Unstable internal temperatures can also accelerate the loss of thermal elements, increasing the risk of rice cooker damage and fire.
Does using a rice cooker really induce liver cancer?
Recently, there has been some negative news about rice cookers circulating online, especially about the claims that they can cause health problems. However, after in-depth investigation and verification by authoritative institutions, these claims lack scientific basis.
First of all, in response to some rumors claiming that the World Health Organization has called for the use of rice cookers to be stopped, there is no such information on the official website of the World Health Organization. In fact, a rice cooker is a simple and safe kitchen utensil, which is mainly composed of two parts: the outer shell and the inner liner. For safe direct contact with food, the liner is usually coated with Teflon (Teflon) or ceramic material.
Teflon coatings are popular for their excellent resistance to high temperatures and chemical stability. However, some consumers are concerned that the coating could break down at high temperatures, releasing harmful substances. Indeed, an experiment on CCTV's "Life Tips" program showed that the Teflon coating only began to decompose when the temperature reached 300°C, producing some potentially toxic polyfluoroalkyl substances and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). But it is important that the operating temperature of the rice cooker under normal use conditions is well below this critical point.
Specifically, the maximum temperature of an ordinary rice cooker is about 103°C under normal working conditions, with an error of about 3°C, the temperature is maintained at 60-70°C when keeping warm, and the temperature is only between 150-170°C even in high-pressure mode. Therefore, in the presence of water, it is impossible for the temperature of the rice cooker to exceed 180°C, which is well below the 300°C threshold for Teflon decomposition.
Ji Chunyong, director of the minimally invasive surgery department of hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery at Zhengzhou Central Hospital affiliated to Zhengzhou University, further clarified that the normal use of the rice cooker will not cause the decomposition of the liner coating, so it will not cause harm to the human body, let alone cancer.
A rice cooker is a safe and secure kitchen appliance that does not pose a health threat as long as the guidelines for normal use are followed. Consumers should base their informed choices on facts and scientific evidence, not unverified online rumors.