California nearly triggered a seismic shift in American kitchens this fall.
A bill phasing out the sale of nonstick pans made with polytetrafluoroethylene—a type of PFAS “forever chemical”—cleared the state legislature in September with overwhelming support. Given the well-documented health risks associated with production of PTFE, commonly known as Teflon, advocates fully expected Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign SB 682 into law.
But then the celebrity chefs showed up.
Days before Newsom was set to rule on the bill, a wave of similarly worded letters to the California State Legislature appeared. Celebrity chefs Rachael Ray, David Chang, Thomas Keller, and Marcus Samuelsson all insisted that Teflon was safe when used correctly. Their letters warned that the bill was alarmist, unnecessary, and unfair to home cooks and professional chefs alike. Their message was polished, unified, and amplified across national media.
In the end, Newsom echoed their concerns. “I am deeply concerned about the impact this bill would have on the availability of affordable options in cooking products,” he wrote in his veto message.
But the chefs weren’t acting alone. They were working on behalf of The Cookware Sustainability Alliance, a newly created lobbying group representing some of the world’s largest pan manufacturers, which argued the bill would drive up consumer prices and needlessly restrict a “safe” product.
The reason the chefs’ letters aligned so cleanly with the CSA’s talking points is, in retrospect, unsurprising: They all have financial relationships with companies that produce and sell PTFE-coated pans—the same companies that fund the CSA, a joint investigation by Atmos and Heated found.
I switched to a carbon steel frying pan recently and couldn’t be happier. All the benefits of cast iron but a fraction of the weight. Just as nonstick as Teflon without the health risks. Highly recommended.
This.
But it’s bad for capitalism bcs it’s a good product that can last you a lifetime & private capital can’t profit from you beyond that one purchase.
It’s fucking disguising.
It also kills my retail therapy that keeps my depression in check.
I’m only half joking there. I don’t want disposable things to fill the hole. I have a stainless steel pan, a carbon steel pan, cast iron, and enamel cast iron. I’ll never need another pan in my life. Whoever gets it after they die likely won’t either. One of my cast iron pans is over 100 years old and works great. Looks almost like new.
But I do want something to fill the hole some days. I just keep buying old world craftsmanship so I never have to replace shit so I never get my retail therapy.
Just buy things worth supporting, something that isn’t killing people or nature that much.
Got a brand?
Misen is the gold standard, but unless you are rich or a pro chef, the Merten and Storck pan is just as good.
The beauty is you can just go and get one (which may have no brand name whatsoever) for $20 at a restaurant supply store.
If you want one that’ll look nice in your kitchen, you could try one from De Buyer.
I have 2 De Buyers myself and they really are so much better than teflons. The instructions that came with it literally said: “The pan is usable unless it has a hole on it”. The cheaper ones tend to be much thinner so they won’t retain heat as well and can bend under heat and stress. Those De Buyers will go from generation to another.