Paraflex Disposable sheets and paraflex premium non stick sheets
On page 36 of the fall catalog, there are offered Paraflex Disposable sheets and paraflex premium non stick sheets. I have a question about the Teflon coating, and if any of it comes off and adheres to the dried food? Another question, regarding the disposable sheets, if/is there a silicon coating on the sheets and is the vegetable pulp non-GM? Tom
August 31st, 2009 at 11:09 am
We have contacted our vendor and here’s the scoop. The premium paraflex sheets are made of pure Teflon (which is very soft by itself) and is reinforced with fiber. The vendor claims that the Teflon will not come off on the dried food. They do say not to use an abrasive cleaner that will scratch the Teflon. It is very easy to clean, since food doesn’t stick to it. Just use a sponge and soapy water and rinse. They also say that you shouldn’t soak the sheets in water because they will absorb water and expand and will need to be dried out before using them in the dehydrator. Soaking them will also shorten their lifespan.
The disposable parchment sheets do have a small amount of silicon coating on them, as does all parchment for cooking. Unfortunately the vendor does not know if the vegetable fiber they are made from is from a non-GMO source.
Hope this helps!!
August 31st, 2009 at 1:34 pm
So it looks like the Teflon sheets may or may not release Telfon, what ever Teflon is … And the disposable parchment sheets have silicon coating. Now my question is, what are the health effects of Teflon and Silicon? Are answers or suggestion on where to go for answers?
September 1st, 2009 at 2:13 pm
This is an interesting question. I did some googling of this and found some reassuring and simultaneously disturbing info from this article:
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200409/hearth.asp
“…I also wanted to know if I was feeding my family toxic chemicals straight from the skillet. So I contacted Rich Purdy, who was an environmental scientist at 3M for 19 years. Now an organic farmer and activist working to curb the use of hazardous chemicals, Purdy says that when used correctly–never heated beyond a medium setting–Teflon itself does not pose a threat to human health. “But people are always in a hurry,” he says. “They heat up to ‘high’ and then back off.”
So… the question, it seems, is if the convenience of non-stick is worth the trade off. In most cases the trade off would appear to be the environmental consequences in the long term, but the argument is heated and contentious as to how significant those are.
As with most things, I’ll justl have to use my own best judgment and decide for myself.
I think that our most powerful political capital (literally) is our dollar and where it goes. IF it can be shown that teflon causes damage above and beyond the damage we cause as humans simply by living in the modern world (plastic bags, driving our prius to the grocery store, shipping) then certainly we should “vote” to not buy Teflon products. But the consensus in this case is that there is no consensus. However, the involvement of DuPont in the debate makes me reconsider… Considering that DuPont is possibly as evil as Monsanto…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6818466/