January 14, 2001


Can aluminum cookware make you sick?

I was in a sporting goods store recently and overheard a sales guy explain to a customer that she should buy stainless steel cookware rather than aluminum because aluminum can cause a chemical reaction with certain dairy foods and make you sick. Is there any truth to this?

— Sean Chula Vista, California

One word: Sounds like "bull-hit." It's true that aluminum cookware can be chemically reactive with some foods, but primarily highly acidic ones such as tomatoes and then only if the cookware is not anodized (these days, all the stuff you buy in cook shops is anodized). And dairy products? Not a chance. That is a complete fiction that sprang from the sales clerk's fertile and paranoid imagination. And even if there is any leaching of aluminum, its health effects are apt to be zero. Back in the 1970s, aluminum cookware got a bad rap because aluminum deposits were found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. But it turned out that was not a cause-and-effect issue; the damage caused by Alzheimer's caused the aluminum deposits, not the other way around.

Besides, you're eating aluminum ALL THE TIME! It's the third most abundant element on the planet, as difficult to avoid as Britney Spears. In food, sources include processed cheese, baking powder, citrate (a food additive), and tea. Many antacids also are made with aluminum salts. Plants accumulate aluminum as they grow—in fact aluminum toxicity of plants is a major problem for agriculture. So that broccoli you ate last night? Yup, contained aluminum.

So here's what to get: A set of MSR Blacklite cookware. It costs $33 for two pots—a 1.5-liter pot and a 2-liter pot. Yes, it's made of aluminum -— that's what makes it light. But even if you still have concerns, the Blacklite has a non-stick coating that stands between your food and the aluminum. Of course, I suppose there's always the chance that something is leaching out of the coating...