February 26, 2002
I have just become aware of the research of Hertel and Blanc in Switzerland, and how a "gag order" was placed on Hertel by the Swiss courts, which subsequently was over-turned, regarding his speaking out about the deleterious health effects — and deleterious effects upon nutrients — demonstrated by the results of his feeding experiments with microwave-cooked food. Have any feeding studies been conducted on microwave-cooked food that contradict his results and conclusions? I would be interested in reading any animal or human feeding studies that demonstrate the safety of food cooked by microwaves. Can you point to any?
An article which cites a dozen studies showing deleterious effects is posted at: Are Microwave Ovens a Source of Danger*?
Jeffrey
Hi Jeffrey,
Thank you for your email. Quite frankly, I do not participate in debates over the safety of microwave cooking. I have read studies both pro and con regarding microwave cooking and its safety. My personal experience has been that I have been cooking in the microwave for well over 25-years with no ill effects. There are people in this world who have nothing better to do than stir up controversy and alarm. I once heard of a study that proved that lipstick causes cancer in mice. Of course, a human would have had to actually eat 30 tubes of lipstick a day for it to have the same effect.
My position is that if I heeded every warning from every study ever conducted about the dangers of everything in this world, I wouldn't have a life. I would be locked in my house hiding from the world. I firmly believe that each individual should choose what is right for him/her in this life, and leave others to choose for themselves. If you strongly fear a danger in using microwave ovens, you shouldn't do it. We all have to decide what we are and are not going to fear in this world.
Everything else I have to say about the safety of microwave cooking is located at the Safety of Microwave Cooking page of my site.
*When adding this post, I checked the link that Jeffrey sent me and the site has been removed from the Internet. If you are interested in reading further about these studies, just search the Internet for "Hertel and Blanc."