Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Health effects of using hard anodized aluminum pots and pans
Q. I would like to know if food cooked in the hard anodized aluminum pots and pans leach any aluminum or other content into the food itself. I would appreciate a non-biased source of information.
Thank you,
mother - Great Falls, Montana
2004
A. There is a lot of controversy about aluminium pots and pans, but it is widely used in fizzy drink cans, so I would not be concerned about it. I know at one time aluminium was blamed for the onset of Alzheimer's Disease, but the work that initially suggested it was found to be flawed because there had been a miscalculation in the aluminium levels. Aluminium has a major attribute in that it is technically a very reactive metal, but it readily reacts with moisture and air to form a tenacious oxide layer that seals the metal against virtually all common environments, thereby protecting the metal from further dissolution. Using aluminium as a pot to boil water does not change this basic property and it could be said it can enhance it! My only concern would be if you use an aluminium pot for continued boiling of very salty water, then the chloride ions could start to attack the aluminium and cause corrosion. But then again, why would you boil very salty water and use it as part of your food preparation? I am sure there will be literature on the web about the non-hazards and "hazards" of aluminium, but in my humble opinion, for what it is worth, there is no real problem.
Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK
2004
2007
A. Additional supporting info here (if you feel the FDA is impartial): http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/CONSUMER/CON00036.html
- Detroit, Michigan
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Ed. note July 2015: Sorry, that link is now broken.
Thanks for the good link, Jonathan. Yes, as long as no pharmaceutical company is yet marketing "aluminum chelation pills" or anything like that, I would expect the FDA to be impartial. But the minute a pharmaceutical company can cash in, and charge the public a mint, I fully expect the revolving door FDA to be utterly and completely partial :-)
You only have to look at all the traditional medicines they have outlawed without any study or testing to realize I'm right.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2007
Q. I am very concerned about articles I have read about hard anodized aluminum pots and pans leaching aluminum into your foods. I have a Calphalon hard anodized aluminum set I have been using for at least 10 years. Should I be concerned for my family's health?
Cookie Wright- Miami, Florida
June 25, 2009
A. Hi, Cookie. If you were reading these articles in the Journal of the American Medical Association, or Nature, or Scientific American
[affil link to magazine on Amazonaffil links], then you indeed should be very concerned. But you are finding them on the Internet, and life is short, and I wouldn't spend any of it bothering with them. The "aluminum causes Alzheimer's" rumor is decades out of date, and the Alzheimer's Association gives it no credence:
" . . . The vast majority of mainstream scientists now believe that if aluminum plays any role at all in Alzheimer's, that role is small. . ."
". . . most mainstream health professionals believe, based on current knowledge, that exposure to aluminum is not a significant risk factor. Public health bodies sharing this conviction include the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Health Canada. . ."
" . . . Further, it is unlikely that people can significantly reduce their exposure to aluminum through such measures as avoiding aluminum-containing cookware, foil, beverage cans, medications and other products. . ."
We have several other threads on this subject, with letters
8962 and
22551 for starters if you want additional opinions. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Hullo, thank you for such an interesting and informative website. I have been researching cooking pots as I need to buy a set, and have decided to get the anodized aluminium set that was my initial choice before my research started. What a pity we live in such a fear based society - buying into the fear factor only serves to complicate our own lives and the lives of those around us. Just keeping oneself grounded in common sense is truly a full time occupation, so thanks for the great work you are doing!
- Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
December 6, 2009
Q. I followed the questions about aluminum leaching into boiling water in aluminum pots. The questions and responses all referred to 'hard anodized aluminum pots'. I have a thick aluminum pressure cooker. Would that likely be "hard anodized"?
Trevor Crichton's response also warned about heating a salty solution which might cause the chloride ions to corrode the aluminum. I wonder if heating red wine in a pressure cooker (not closed) to make muld wine, for example, would have a greater likelihood of causing the aluminum to leach into the solution.
- Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
November 8, 2010
A. Hi, William. Hard anodizing is a characteristic very dark gray or "charcoal" color. If the color of your pot is metallic, it's not "hard" anodized (0.002" thick), although it probably is anodized to some lesser thickness. I wouldn't do acid food products, including wine, in aluminum though.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
November 9, 2010
Q. As a new bride in 1974, I was given a La Creuset pan. I seasoned it as per directions but it was almost impossible to clean and very heavy. I bought a few more pieces but never cared for them. I bought at least 6 sets of cheap Teflon cookware and threw them out when they started to peel too much. OK-no Googling available and not much money. That's my excuse.
I bought my first Calphalon set plus an 8 qt. pan in 1983. My thinking was that if I didn't like the large pan, I would return the unopened set. Dang-I loved (still love) that pan. I chose Calphalon because I cooked for 35-40 people at a time and it had a nice variety of sizes. It didn't stain and it was easy to clean. I had the professional hard anodized set and added pieces when I could. I hadn't heard that aluminum was bad for you. I knew my mother used cheap pots with dents and thought of those as aluminum. My 8 qt. pot was joined by the non-stick version. I have 8 and 12 qt stock pots. I make a lot of Indian food which has yogurt, tomatoes, and lemon juice in it. Where were these "don't use acids in cooking" warnings or am I just dumb? Now read about greenpans.
I just bought 3 more pieces of Calphalon that are Simply Calphalon and Contemporary Calphalon.The difference is that S.C. has a 10 year guarantee and Contemporary C. is guaranteed for life. I'm pretty sure they will out-live me since they are panini griddles, a steak type griddle, and a 4 qt pan with a pour spout and strainer.
I LOVE my Calphalon. I knew professional restaurants used them and was tired of buying new sets of Teflon every year. So I've used them every day for 30 years and really don't want to change unless they are proven unsafe. I've given pieces to my children. Does that make me a nice mother or a sabateur? My cookie sheets and loaf pans and cupcake forms and large turkey roasters are all Calphalon. I'm not against iron pans but can't lift them easily once I have 8-12 qts or soup or chicken curry in them. Is there anything that can take the leached metals out of your system? All these years I've used a minimum of household chemicals, I have hardwood floors and wool carpeting, I open windows summer or winter to air out the house and my furniture is all real wood and antique so-no outgassing. The only plastic I own is Tupperware for storage of raw ingredients and leftovers. Now I'm afraid to leave food in my pan-and yes, I make my own Lasagna and spaghetti sauce too, so should I remove every morsel to the plastic containers after cooking or is that just as bad? I threw out my Corningware 25 years ago because it's-heavy, stains,and doesn't wash well. Should I use that for storage rather than plastic?
Helga Ganguly- San Jose, California, USA
February 7, 2012
A. Hi, Helga. As long as there is an internet, you'll never get away from opinion taking the place of established facts. But hundreds of millions of people have been using aluminum pots for at least 60 years and apparently no one has found definitive evidence that it is seriously harmful. And the Alzheimer's Association, EPA, and NIH don't think it is.
So, with major corporations sneaking nitric-acid digested garbage meat ("pink slime") into our hamburger, and with all manner of genetically modified Frankenfoods on the market while responsible organizations like the State of Vermont are forbidden by Congress from labeling it, and with fecal-contaminated non-inspected produce imported from every squalid hovel on this planet, and with constant widespread outbreaks of listeria, e. coli infections, salmonella, and a host of other diseases from our ludicrously inadequate methods of insuring food safety: my personal feeling is that paying attention to what you are eating is ten thousand times as important as concern over the pot you are serving it from. I don't waste one single second of my limited lifetime fretting over it. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 8, 2012
Q. How about the infused coatings used on the interiors of some toaster ovens? Does a heated surface not coming into contact with the food need any additional comment beyond the discussions already posted? Will the broiler settings compromise the coatings and are they to be regarded as an unsafe cooking environment?
Ed Martens- Galena, Illinois, USA
April 1, 2013
Q. Hello, I am looking at a Hard Anodized Pressure Cooker. Please suggest me something which hard anodize pressure cooker is best for daily routine life, and please also suggest me the size of that cooker. It would be great help thanks.
Manoj Gupta- Mumbai, Maharastra, India
October 24, 2013
A. Hi Manoj. Hard anodizing is light, durable, attractive, and somewhat non-stick. But this is a metal finishing site rather than a cooking site, and I can't comment on selecting a size of pressure cooker.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 24, 2013
Aluminum pot is quickly corroding and hot
Q. I noticed a silver-edged patch as I turned the fish stew I was cooking in an aluminum pot yesternight. The stew tasted sour and slapy. I fried the stew dry so the sour taste would go away but it remained the same. But what amazed me was that I soaked the aluminum pot in water till day break and by then the water had turned black. After washing the same pot and leaving it to strain, it just continued growing ash-like molds which immediately turned sprouting villa-like ashes. If scraped off it just starts again and the pot was very hot, as if being on fire. This chemical reaction continued for a few hours till holes appeared on the places where the patch spread to. Also lead-like crystals appeared on the stew this morning. I got so scared as I have never seen a reaction like this with cooking wares. What should I do please because the pot came in a set of seven and I have been using all till now.
Aderonke Popoola- Makurdi,Benue, Nigeria
August 10, 2014
Q. Soaked cucumbers overnight in aluminum pan with lime. Are pickles still safe to eat after washing and cooking in non-aluminum pan.
Lavern PENNRetired teacher - Heber Springs Arkansas USA
July 15, 2015
Health effects of aluminized steel toaster
Q. My toaster oven has surfaces that are "aluminized steel". Will Aluminum leach out into my food while cooking? Straight question. Straight answer please.
Karen Olsonnurse - Grapeview, Washington America
June 11, 2016
A. Many of the responses to this thread appear to suggest that hard anodising increases the risk of leaching of aluminium whereas surely the reverse is true -- hard anodising turns the fairly reactive metal aluminium into a much less reactive material, and does it with comparative ease and without adding dubious plastics or resins.
Gerry Sheldon- Bracknell, Berkshire, England
August 5, 2018
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