Is Your Cooking Spray Harmful to Your Health?

Most serious cooks are enthusiastic about non-stick sprays, usually for the spray’s ability to keep foods from charring on a pan’s hot surface. This is indeed a great asset for both the chef who is preparing large quantities and for the casual cook who is trying to create a deliciously healthy meal for a small family. For many years it was believed that these sprays were a healthy alternative to heavier lubricants, but recent studies have some people asking, “Is cooking spray harmful to your health?”

Unhealthy Additives

It turns out that those curious people have good reason to be skeptical. Most modern cooking sprays contain things like mono- and di-glycerides, soy lecithin, dimethyl silicone, and other artificial ingredients. The long-term health effects of these additives are still under debate, but not much good news is coming back yet. Nevertheless, the answer to whether cooking spray is harmful to your health seems to be “yes.”

Cooking Sprays and GMOs

How can a solid conclusion come from such a minimal amount of data? Well, as it stands today, the majority of cooking sprays not only contain potentially harmful additives but are also chock full of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that are derived from tampered soy, corn, and canola. GMOs are responsible for infertility, autoimmune disorders, diabetes, and digestive problems. Sound scary? It certainly is, especially when you consider the fact that over 90 percent of the foods sold in the U.S. are GMO-friendly. Adding more of it to your meal by using a cooking spray harmful to your health is a seriously bad idea.

Lung Problems? Are You Serious?

According to a study conducted on 22 different cooking sprays in Seattle in 2007, even miniscule amounts of heated cooking spray were shown to release extremely high concentrations of diacetyl. What’s diacetyl? Put simply, it’s a chemical that is directly linked to fatal respiratory disease. Although most manufacturers have pulled any products with this substance from the shelves, it seems as though cooking spray doesn’t care. Under the right circumstances, and when experienced for a prolonged period of time, people will find cooking spray harmful to their health.

Before you begin substituting something for the cooking spray you love, be sure to talk to your doctor or with a certified nutritionist for suggestions. What is popular is not always right. On the same token, what is right is not always popular. There may or may not be a healthier option out there that you don’t yet know about.