Is cooking with induction hobs bad for you? What the experts say

2023-11-04 13:52:25

In recent years in Italy, more and more people are replacing their gas cookers with more technological induction hobs. But, as often happens, alarming information is circulating on the Internet on alleged health risks deriving from the use of this type of hob, in particular on the emission of dangerous electromagnetic radiation and on the fact that foods would lose their nutritional value and could even have harmful effects on health. But what is true?

Scientists and safety bodies have denied any fears, as can be read on the Belgian website Passion Santé. In particular, the risk coming from electromagnetic fields is unfounded because induction hobs have low or intermediate frequencies ranging from 20 to 100 kHz, the same as many devices in the home: CRT screens of televisions or computers, radios, energy saving light bulbs energy, Wi-Fi, microwave ovens, etc. Not only that: very strict safety standards have been established for manufacturers for induction hobs. According to an international specialized agency (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection – Icnirp), they cannot exceed a reference magnetic radiation of 6.25 microtesla (μT) at 30 cm from the cooking zone when using a single plate (a provided that there is a sufficiently large pan on this plate). The Swiss Ministry of Health has established that the safety guideline value is not exceeded when the person cooking is positioned 5 or 10 cm away from the stove, regardless of the number of hobs used at the same time. It is only below a distance of 1cm, when the pan is smaller than the griddle or when the pan is touched during cooking, that a weak electric current is released.

There is also no scientific proof for the other risk feared on the web, that is, that foods cooked on induction hobs would undergo a chemical modification that would cause them to lose a large part of their nutritional value, or would cause mutations in the blood and in the immune system, thus increasing the risk of cancer and infectious diseases. Food prepared on an induction hob (or in the microwave) has never been proven to have changed composition, contain harmful substances or have a lower nutritional value than conventionally prepared food. The food – we read – only absorbs the heat from the pan, which means it can never be damaged by the induction hob and the radiation it emits.