Microwaves are a great addition to any kitchen and most homes are equipped with them. They are a great way to quickly heat food up for your consumption. One big question about microwaves is “Can I put my styrofoam takeout container into it?” although styrofoam is a great option for keeping your food warm, it can potentially become deadly when used to reheat food. In this blog post, I will be covering the dangers of reheating Styrofoam and some options on how to avoid it.

What exactly is Styrofoam?

Styrofoam is actually another type of plastic, the only difference is that it has been expanded with 95% air to create Styrofoam. We use Styrofoam for many things from packaging fragile products to insulating hot food items and beverages.

What happens when you microwave Styrofoam?

Traditional Styrofoam is very stable during normal use, however once you expose it to high temperatures the polystyrene that makes up Styrofoam starts to melt and break down. This causes toxic chemicals to potentially leak into your food. With a large enough quantity these chemicals are carcinogenic and could have a major effect on you.

What are the risks involved with microwaving Styrofoam?

Styrofoam containers are very thin and are not meant to be cooked with, when you expose Styrofoam to high heat it has the potential of becoming a huge fire hazard. If you ingest the heated chemical polystyrene here’s the following health effects that can take place.

  • Polystyrene can cause hearing loss after ingested
  • Polystyrene can cause Fatigue after ingested
  • Polystyrene can cause Headaches after ingested
  • Polystyrene can cause Stomach irritation after ingested
  • Polystyrene can cause Depression after ingested
  • Polystyrene can cause Dysfunction of the central nervous system when ingested

What alternatives can I use instead of Styrofoam?

Because of all the health risks of using Styrofoam in the microwave it’s highly recommended that you take a second to put your food onto a ceramic plate or any other microwave safe container before placing your food into the microwave.

How do I know if my container is microwave safe?

In order to check if your container is microwavable, look at the bottom of the container before placing it into your microwave. If you see a microwaveable symbol which looks like a microwave with wavy lines, you know it’s safe to place into the microwave

Because your health is of the utmost importance, exercise caution when you place a container inside your microwave. Hopefully you’re able to use these tips that are provided by your service experts at https://www.valleyviewappliances.com/

 

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