Microwave ovens have long been a staple in kitchens worldwide, revolutionizing the way people cook and consume food. However, a small but growing movement is going microwave-free, driven by health risks and food quality concerns.
Conversations on social media platforms reveal a sentiment that microwaves are unsafe. Individuals, confident in the health benefits of going microwave-free, share their personal experiences in testimonials often accompanied by sentiments like “I’ve never looked back.” Some claim that microwave cooking depletes food of nutrients and harms health.
But are these concerns legitimate?
Microwave ovens rely on a unique form of non-ionizing radiation, known as “microwaves,” that are distinct from the ionizing radiation found in x-rays and other high-energy sources. According to Christopher Baird, a physicist at West Texas A&M University who specializes in electromagnetics, the microwaves in our kitchens are a form of electromagnetic radiation similar to radio waves.
(Could a pill protect us from radiation after a nuclear meltdown?)
“It’s exceedingly rare for a microwave oven to malfunction badly enough to harm a nearby human,” Baird says. “Even in those exceedingly rare cases, no damage is done beyond burns and surface nerve damage.”
The inception of the microwave
Microwave ovens are a staple in American kitchens, but that wasn’t always the case. Microwave ovens were initially conceived by Percy Spencer in 1945 after he observed heat-generating microwaves emitted by a magnetron during a radar experiment. His first attempt at converting this to a kitchen tool was colossal, towering at around six feet and weighing over 750 pounds—a far cry from modern models.
When wartime technology was adapted for domestic use following WWII, it resulted in smaller, more user-friendly microwave ovens in American kitchens. Subsequently, the ‘70s saw a notable shift in American eating habits. Food companies increasingly catered to busy families and individuals or those who preferred not to cook, expanding their offerings to frozen, microwavable dinners and snacks—a trend that increased Americans’ dependence on prepared, convenient foods.
Today, ready-to-enjoy dinners from lasagna to chicken pot pie provide budget-friendly, single-serve meals in a matter of minutes—the frozen foods market witnessed $72.2 billion in sales in 2022, with frozen meals alone accounting for $25.8 billion.
(Learn more about how ultra-processed food harms our bodies and brains.)
Microwave ovens inhabit 96 percent of American households, according to an Energy Information Administration Residential Energy Consumption Survey, with 99 percent of those households using the appliance at least once every week.
Fast-paced lifestyles beckoning convenient solutions such as microwavable foods drives market growth in an industry set to surpass 230 million by 2031, according to market research.
While the microwave itself doesn’t present a health risk, ultra-processed foods like ready-to-eat frozen dinners have known health issues.
How do microwaves work?
Microwaves exist on a low- to high-frequency spectrum, according to NASA, and make modern technology like radio, text messaging, x-rays, and GPS possible.
The heart of a microwave oven lies in its magnetron tube, which generates these microwaves. Once produced, they bounce off the oven’s metallic interior, creating a highly controlled cooking environment. When microwaves encounter water molecules, they induce rapid vibration within these molecules, generating friction as they jostle against one another. This friction, in turn, creates heat, or thermal energy, effectively warming up the food.
Microwaves primarily cook food from the outside in. Foods with a higher water content, such as fresh vegetables, tend to cook more quickly because microwave radiation easily heats water.
(Do you wash your meat? Experts say it actually spreads germs.)
Ionizing radiation alters atoms and molecules and damages cells in organic matter, whereas non-ionizing radiation merely causes heating via thermal energy. Because non-ionizing radiation emits less energy than even visible light and doesn’t alter the atoms and molecules inside our body, it can safely be used inside the home, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“If the microwave radiation used in microwave ovens somehow toxified the food it cooked, then the radio waves continuously being emitted by the household Wi-Fi router would be toxifying all of the food in the house in the same way,” says Baird. He emphasizes that neither of these concerns are valid.
Even candlelight has more electromagnetic waves than microwave ovens. Logically, “people would need to be more worried about candlelight” if such claims about microwaves were accurate, says Baird.
The FDA acknowledges the existence of isolated and rare cases of radiation injury linked to microwave oven use, mainly due to issues like a broken microwave seal.
“High-energy electromagnetic waves can induce significant electric currents in nerves, potentially causing burns and damage,” says Baird. He cites rare instances where malfunctioning microwave ovens have caused nerve damage in individuals reaching into or near the oven.
The FDA says there is little reason for concern unless the microwave oven sustains damage that could allow microwaves to escape.
For safety reasons, the FDA advises against using certain plastic containers, metal pans, and aluminum foil in the microwave. Mounting evidence suggests that microwaving plastic, even those labeled ‘microwave safe,’ leeches harmful microscopic plastic particles into food.
Do microwaves harm food?
Microwave heated foods retain moisture on the surface, preventing a desirable appearance, such as a golden-brown crust, from developing on certain foods. Nonetheless, the findings of a study published in 2020 emphasize the advantages of short processing times, low heating temperatures, and relatively low power levels, all of which prevent nutrients from being lost.
Some research favors microwaving and baking over pressure cooking and boiling methods for preserving vegetable antioxidants. Vitamins A and C, for example, hold up particularly well in microwaved foods. And microwaving raw trout causes quantities of vitamin K to increase.
One paper published in the journal Food Science and Nutrition even found microwave ovens use less energy and water than other common cooking tools.
The International Microwave Power Institute also dispels a common rumor—that countries such as Japan and Russia banned microwave ovens due to radiation. There is no evidence supporting these claims, which went viral on social media within the last few years amid the rising interest in the microwave-free lifestyle movement—which continues unabated.
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