The French National Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a bill aimed at restricting the manufacture and sale of products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — also known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.” The MPs, backed by the government, voted to exclude kitchen utensils from the scope of the text.
Thanks to an intense lobbying push, manufacturers of frying pans and saucepans — including the SEB group, which owns Tefal — are exempt from this ban under the proposed law penned by French Green MPs.
Majority groups initially tried to delay the ban on kitchen utensils until 2030 — a timetable refused by the French Green MPs who instead suggested an exemption until 2026.
This seems pretty stupid, just use carbon steel or cast iron: They both work great and don’t poison everyone!
Both of these do require more maintenance and patience than nonstick, which will inevitably make some people upset
I don’t fully agree with this, I’ve had nonstick pans in the past, and I had to baby the shit out of them to make sure they didn’t scratch, and they can only really be used in certain applications (never in the oven, don’t preheat, etc.)
I tossed my cast iron pan into a 800 degree pizza oven the other day and did not worry about anything. I beat the crap out of it with metal utensils, that are sturdier and better than their plastic counterparts, and it comes out smiling.
Yes I do have to hand wash it, but even that is easier because I can scrape any stuck on food off with a metal spatula or chainmail scrubber. If that’s a deal breaker, just go stainless and move on.
100% but many people don’t care about this stuff at all. They will happily toss their nonstick pan in the dishwasher, ruining it, and then buy a new one a year or two later when it doesn’t work properly anymore, or just suffer with it and conclude that they are bad at cooking. When you try to discuss seasoning, hand washing, and the intricacies of frying pan materials, their eyes immediately glaze over. Nonstick pans have the advantage of just working when you get a new one, and that is really appealing to someone with low cooking knowledge or interest.
I feel like marketing did a number on us.
These things are branded as ‘non-stick’ like steel is ‘do-stick’? And people just accepted that?
‘More maintenance’ than going to the store to buy new cookware every 6 months?
And I don’t really maintain my steel cookware, aside from putting it in & out of the dishwasher.
Only if you are putting the nonstick into the dishwashee.
Cast iron and to a lesser extent carbon steel require special considerations for seasoning, none of them are dishwasher safe. Stainless steel doesn’t really need seasoning but is significantly easier to get high protein food stuck on than PTFE
Getting things stuck is the point of stainless steel, things getting stuck means more goodness in the sauce you create by deglazing it.
For meats yes, for everything else no.
Unless you’re cooking eggs. Getting your eggs horribly stuck to a stainless steel pan is a total nightmare!