Is Putting Plastic Food Tubs in the Microwave Dangerous?

If you frequently use the web for email, the chances are good that at some point in the last decade you have received the “urgent” forward email letting you know that putting plastic in your microwave is going to give you cancer.  As with most emails like this, there is a small kernel of truth surrounded by misinformation.  So, is this an urban legend, or is that bowl of macaroni you heated up really the key to your own demise?

According to the scary email, small chemicals used in making plastic leach out into your food during cooking.  Believe it or not, this is true, but only to some degree.  In order for a plastic container to be labeled as microwave safe, it has to undergo serious testing by the FDA.  This means that if enough chemicals leach out that someone could even possibly get sick by microwaving every meal in it were present, the plastic container would not be approved.

What you really need to do to stay safe is to ensure that you are only using plastic that is labeled as microwave safe.  Don’t reheat food in thin food takeout trays, butter or cream cheese containers, or anything of that nature.  Products are tested to see if they are safe when used for their recommended purposes, and these containers are not meant to be microwaved. 

As a last note, a plastic container not marked as microwave safe still isn’t a death trap, so if you microwaved the butter tub last night, you are going to be fine.  The amount of plastic in your food will be tiny – you’ll gain far worse health effects from accidentally eating that little plastic label on your apple or pear… and nobody goes around emailing out warnings that fruit labels can kill you.

The moral of the story? Always use microwave safe plastic, and you will be perfectly fine.