Being deliberate about the materials you choose for your cookware is not the same as stressing out over every little risk in your life. For some people these are the materials that they use to prepare their food literally every day and one purchase will last years.

> one purchase will last years

Indeed. Although now I’m pretty annoyed about the 6 or so black plastic cooking utensils I received as a wedding gift nearly twenty years ago lasted this long, so I’ve been using them this whole time. Oh well, at least I don’t cook much :/

Sure, but this is pretty low hanging fruit. Moving to only metal and wood spatulas, cooking spoons, etc. has been a pretty cheap and easy switch. I would love to ALSO see regulation, but in the meantime I can at least improve things for myself.

Those are either going to (metal) scratch my non-stick pans, which I’m also told (on scant evidence I believe) causes cancer, or they’re (wood) going to be inflexible and hard to wash (can’t dishwasher them), which is inconvenient.

Putting wooden spatulas in the dishwasher shortens their life, but it doesn't destroy them straight away. I don't feel bad at all about putting cheap wooden cookware in the dishwasher. And, of course, if you're using non-stick pans, worrying about black plastic is a mote/beam kind of situation.

> shortens their life

I'm not even sure it does that. My cheapo wood spoons/turners/spatulas get dishwashed ~every time they're used, and they're 10? years old at this point. One finally cracked a few years ago but the rest are going strong.

Well, I stopped using non-stick years ago (though I have a waffle iron which I suppose has a non stick coating) and haven't missed it.

There is plenty non stick that doesn't contain teflon. Like ScanPan CTX.

> The problem is that even when there are easy, safe alternatives trying to avoid every little risk in your life will drive you crazy.

Not really, just avoid them as they come up. Case in point: Throw out your black cooking utensils and use an alt. Simple simple. No crazy to it.

Agreed. I don't have the time to pay attention to every 'maybe this is bad' thing. Figure it out for sure then ban it.

Indeed, panicking about everything little thing like this is a psychological nightmare— it leads to the same mental fatigue as the infinite list of item known to the State of California to cause cancer.

Why, exactly, would those California notifications cause even mild anxiety (let alone "a psychological nightmare") if you know as you claim that they are merely "panicking about everything little thing"?

If you're certain they're trivial concerns, then they should be easy to dismiss.

If the problem is that you're not sure if they're trivial -- or which are and which aren't -- then what we've uncovered is the shortcomings of a policy oriented primarily around notifications. You'd want judgments made by people with toxicology qualifications whose job it is to focus on questions like this. Which was the point of the comment you're responding to.

And yet the State of California helps drive regulation forward; e.g. the case of Red 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq9dhQIoDw8). CA may err too much on the cry wolf end of the scale, but it's serving a vital function.

The state of California is a joke.

I don't really understand that POV. It is easier to never have to worry about it if you simply decline to use plastic cooking utensils. You never have to revisit the topic, never had to read any Atlantic articles at all coming out with "new risks" because you just decided to use wood long ago.

Wood utensils are often coated to improve their stability (just like the inside of cans is coated in plastic, so joke’s on you if you choose cans for that reason).

Have you considered the safety profile of the ink used for any markings, the stain on the wood, and any oil or wax coatings?

Haha, well, yes. I actually made all of my wood cooking implements from scratch. I cut down the trees and carved them. eg:

https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1473049577905401859

I use Tried and True linseed oil or linseed oil + beeswax for my coatings. Occasionally I'll use pure walnut oil.

I understand that not everyone likes to make such things! But I don't suspect its hard to find pure wood ones. Lots of people make them. Even just searching "unfinished wooden kitchen utensils" yields a lot of results.

> It is easier to never have to worry about it if you simply decline to use plastic cooking utensils.

> I actually made all of my wood cooking implements from scratch. I cut down the trees and carved them.

Is this trolling? "It's easy, simple, just carve your own tools out of trees". Sounds like "just don't be poor" to me.

I'm not trolling, the commenter asked me if I had considered something, and it happens I have actually made them myself. Not because I think its necessary, it certainly isn't, I simply like to make things by hand and use things that I've made.

It is inexpensive to buy unfinished wood utensils, anyone can search for them. And in the context of the problem, silicone is just as well if wood seems too difficult to find.

To be fair, making wood utensils from scratch is multiple orders of magnitude easier than not being poor.

If you are a regular city dweller, not necessarily...

Sure and that protects you in your own kitchen, but not if you're eating anywhere else. Also what about all the other harmful chemicals with easy alternatives that you don't know about yet?

Only a regulating agency can truly protect you from exposure to harmful chemicals, because they can spend the time cataloguing all these chemicals and remove them not just from your home but everywhere else as well.

I'm not saying you shouldn't try and reduce your own exposure, it seems like a good idea. But ultimately it may just be a token effort because of all the other ways that you're exposed to those chemicals.

Except, I don't think wood would be any better as you still have to worry about how it was sourced and made to make sure nothing was added to it, right? I see a lot of people using bamboo for example. The only really safe alternative is stainless if you want to avoid thinking about it again.

> This is a clear case where a regulator should step in and just ban these black plastic utensils in favor of their safe alternatives.

No, it most certainly is not. The last thing we need is to ban things because some chicken little types get their dander up about it. Stop trying to impose a nanny state on people.