When you smell the smell of cooking rice, your appetite that you didn't have will also rise. However, consumer anxiety is growing as it is pointed out that environmental hormones can be emitted along with the smell of cooking rice during the cooking process.
Environmental hormones refer to chemicals produced through industrial activities, not naturally generated substances. It was named environmental hormone because it acts like a hormone when it enters the body. Environmental hormones interfere with the production or movement of normal hormones in the body, causing endocrine disruptions.
Then, what part of the rice cooker causes environmental hormones? The cause is the black fluororesin-coated inner pot. Fluororesin is a kind of synthetic resin made of carbon and fluorine, and is a material that has a strong property of pushing out other molecules. As such, rice grains are not easily burned and are widely used as a material for internal cooking.
However, fluororesin-coated inner pots have a high risk of causing serious diseases by emitting environmental hormones such as PFOA when exposed to high temperatures. In fact, a research team at Bennington University surveyed the health of nearby residents who used drinking water sources where PFOA was detected, and found that kidney cancer, testicular cancer, and thyroid disease were reported.
Environmental hormones also have a significant impact on the health of the fetus in the pregnant woman's stomach. A research team at Daegu Catholic University of Medicine said that pregnant women who are exposed to environmental hormones are more likely to have underweight children. In an interview with a media outlet, the research team said, "Children who have become underweight due to environmental hormones also suffer from delayed brain development," adding, "This also leads to poor IQ."
Therefore, when choosing an electric rice cooker, you should carefully check what materials are used in your pot. It is recommended to avoid chemically coated products as much as possible and choose products made of materials that are safe for the human body because they do not emit environmental hormones such as iron or stainless steel. As high temperatures reach not only the inner pot but also the lid cover, it is good to pay attention to the material of the cover.
It is also a good idea to see if the product you are trying to purchase has a "NOCHESTEM" mark. Nokestem stands for 'No Chemical System' and is a sign that guarantees the quality of the product. Only products that do not use any chemical components, chemical raw materials, or coating agents in the manufacturing process can use the no-kestem mark. Even in the same stainless steel rice cooker, if there is a no-kestem mark, it can be believed that it is a 100% stainless steel product.
If chemical coating is applied to the inner pot of an electric rice cooker that uses high temperature and high pressure to make rice, a large amount of environmental hormones can be released every time cooking, damaging the health of the entire family. Therefore, when purchasing a rice cooker that you use every day, it is wise to first check whether a material that is harmless to the human body is used and then check its capacity and function.
Writer: Yeyoung Jeon
(Picture from Unsplash)
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