TikToker The Steel Pan Guy (@steelpan.guy) isn’t a fan of Teflon-coated cooking products as one could infer from his username. In a recent viral video that’s accrued over 670,000 views, he claims Teflon isn’t only in pots and pans. He claims it’s absorbed by many of the pasta for sale on store shelves.
He urged folks to reach for pasta that weren’t Teflon-cut and opt for bronze-cut pastas instead.
Pasta problem?
“Stop eating Teflon pasta,” a text overlay in the video reads. Teflon is often interchangeably used to describe polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE, according to TheKitchn blog. Developed in the 1930s, it’s a plastic-based chemical coating usually associated with and used in cookware.
Furthermore, PTFE coating can help make certain items waterproof, “like wires or fabrics.” And there’s a bit of controversy surrounding PTFE’s classification as a “forever chemical.” You may have heard of this term while reading about the ire many have towards PFAS-based items.
Technically, PTFEs fall under the umbrella of PFAS forever chemicals (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), TheKitchn goes on to say that these plastics have reached a variegated ubiquity: “These chemicals can be found in a huge amount of items we come into contact with every day from household items to food packaging.”
Due to their chemical makeup, it takes a very long time for PTFE and PFAS items to break down naturally. However, this persistence is also what helps to make them so effective at fighting grease stains. Moreover, products containing PFAS are also extremely resistant to heat and oil.
But do you want that in your pasta?
PTFE pasta?
“This is what big Teflon doesn’t want you to know. As you know, the last video got a lot of attention about the difference between Teflon pasta,” Steel Pan Guy says, referring to his previous viral video about the subject. “‘Cause Teflon now has their mark on the pasta industry.”
The TikToker says there are clear indicators customers should look out for spot PTFE in their starches. Next, he zooms into a box of Barilla pasta, highlighting a physical trait that’s a dead giveaway.
“And the way you know is it’s smooth like that,” he shares. “Doesn’t matter the brand. I’m sure this brand makes a bronze dye.”
Following this, he focuses his attention on another box of pasta on the shelf. “And if you look at the smooth pasta, it’s Teflon dye,” he says. “It’s exuded through Teflon and it gets squeezed into the pasta.”
‘Rough’-looking pasta
The Steel Pan Guy then shares what indicators customers should be looking for in their pasta.
“You want to look for the rough pasta,” he says while pointing his camera at a box of De Cecco spaghetti. “So not only is this not Teflon dye, and there’s no Teflon in this pasta. But it holds the sauce better and it’s a much better quality pasta.”
Toward the end of his clip, he shows off one more brand, a bag of Rummo rigatoni.
“Here’s another look at it from another brand,” he says, zooming into the bits of dried pasta to comment on its physical appearance. “Again, rough in texture. And it’s bronze drawn, it should say that right on the package.”
Is Teflon unsafe?
WebMD writes that Teflon itself isn’t inherently unsafe, nor is cooking in Teflon pans. As long as the pan or pot that’s coated with Teflon isn’t chipped or scratched. But even if it is and you accidentally swallow bits of Teflon, the medical resource says that it still doesn’t pose a health risk to humans. That’s primarily because the chemical PFOA isn’t used anymore in the production of Teflon items.
The biggest problem pasta enthusiasts seem to have with Teflon vs Bronze-cut pasta is a difference in texture. As The Steel Pan Guy says in his video, the rough composition of Bronze-cuts means better sauce adhesion. Otherwise, your noodles are going to be “slippery and lifeless,” as this food blog contends.
@steelpan.guy stop eating teflon pasta look for bronze die
♬ original sound – Steel Pan Guy
Viewers were divided in the comments
Throngs of people who responded to The Steel Pan Guy’s video clarified that Teflon isn’t inherently dangerous. Nor does it get “absorbed” by the pasta itself. “He is misleading you! It is the type of die cutting used. There is no Teflon in the pasta,” one said.
Others expressed that there’s only one place in the world anyone should buy their pasta from. One wrote, “You should only get pasta actually made in Italy! I have a gluten allergy and have no issue with Pasta actually made in Italy.”
Another echoed, “I buy all my pasta from my Italian grocer who imports pasta directly from Italy. Not only is is still cheaper on average its also easier to digest, doesn’t bloat you and is 100% monsanto free.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Barilla via email and The Steel Pan Guy via TikTok comment.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
