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Hello Kurma,
I have read the answers you wrote about the dangers of using microwaves
for cooking {http://www.kurma.net/faq/ask42.html}.
What about for just re-heating food. Is that still unsafe? By the
way, I love your cookbooks.
Bill Duckworth, Memphis, Tennessee
 Hello
Bill,
Thanks for writing. I have been doing some reading lately. There
is a letter circulating that has its source at the Walter Reed Army
Medical Center, and The Johns Hopkins
University. Baltimore, Maryland.
Apparently, they are recommending that we don't use plastic containers
or plastic wrap to cover foods when we reheat food in the microwave
oven. They also suggest that we don't freeze water in plastic bottles.
Why is this? Dioxins.
In a nutshell, Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast
cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.
Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program manager at Castle Hospital,
recently was on a TV program in the US to explain this health hazard.
He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.
He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave
using plastic
containers. This applies to foods that contain fat. He said that
the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin
into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead,
he recommends using glass, Corning Ware, or ceramic containers for
heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin.
So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc.,
(if you eat these things!) should be removed from the container
and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know
what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning
Ware, etc.
He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants
moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem
is one of the reasons.
Also, he pointed out that Saran wrap ( we call it Glad wrap in
Australia) is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked
in the microwave. As the food is 'nuked', the high heat causes poisonous
toxins to leech out of the plastic wrap and 'drip' into the food.
Cover food with a paper towel instead.
Also, apparently freezing plastic bottles with water in them releases
dioxins from the plastic.
So there's my answer. If you have to use microwaves, it may be
useful to consider these points.
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