Where can you find non-toxic kitchen utensils made from the safest materials? This is a complicated question to answer because it requires customers to reach out to brands to get details on specifics that are typically not covered in the description. Especially when kitchen utensils are made from wood, most brands are not volunteering how that wood was treated. Never fear, Mamavation is here to help! We emailed all the brands to find specifics on their materials so you don’t have to. You’ve trusted Mamavation to bring you investigations like safest cookware without PFAS, water filters that can best handle PFAS, and safest baking sheets, cookie sheets, and sheet pans, now join us for the safest kitchen utensils.
Disclosure: This post was medically reviewed by Sondra Strand, RN, BSN, PHN. Donations were provided by Environmental Health News and Mamavation community members. Note that Mamavation has only “spot-checked” the industry and thus we cannot make predictions about brands and products that we have not tested. Products and manufacturing aides can change without notice so buyer beware. This post contains affiliate links, with most to Amazon, which means Mamavation will receive a portion of those sales. You can also give a tax-deductible donation to our consumer studies here through Environmental Health Sciences. Thank you! Copyright © 2024 Mamavation — All Rights Reserved
Types of Kitchen Utensils
A discussion on kitchen utensils needs to start with what types of kitchen utensils we are covering and what types of high-quality kitchen utensils are available? We did not cover everything, but Mamavation took a look at kitchen accessories, mostly sold as a set with a number of pieces, available in the United States. Here’s what we looked into for you:
- Spatula: A spatula is a small cooking tool used for flipping, mixing, spreading, and turning. It’s a wide, flat, flexible blade typically made of stainless steel or plastic, but sometimes silicone.
- Ladle: A ladle is a very large spoon used for serving liquid dishes like soups, stews, or sauces. It’s typically made from stainless steel, plastic, or some other type of polymer.
- Solid Spoon: A solid spoon is essentially a very large spoon used for mixing or serving all sorts of dishes. Most of these solid spoons are made from wood, stainless steel, or some type of polymer.
- Slotted Spoon: This large spoon has slots or holes for draining liquid. It’s used to mix or serve but leave the liquids behind. Most of the time, we noticed these spoons made from wood, stainless steel, or some type of polymer plastic.
- Tongs: Tons are used for flipping meats & vegetables or picking up different-sized foods. They are typically made from stainless steel with some type of polymer at the tips, but you can also find them in just stainless steel.
- Whisk: A whisk is used for stirring salad dressings, sauces, eggs, desserts, etc. Most of the time they are made from stainless steel, but we did find some made from polymers or stainless steel covered in polymers.
Toxic Problems Found in Kitchen Utensils
We settled on some of the most popular brands and sets of kitchen utensils, then we dove into the materials. We immediately noticed some potential problems those materials may cause as you are using them. Here’s a list of what the majority of materials we found and their potential problems:
- Stainless Steel: You’ll find mostly 18/10 stainless steel when searching for kitchen utensils, however, there are times when you’ll find 18/8 stainless steel, which is a lower quality. If you are sensitive to nickel, you would want to look for 18/0 stainless steel instead (like this spatula set). However, for most people, stainless steel is inert and will not harm you.
- Wood: Wood is a great option for most kitchen utensils, but you’ll also want to know how that wood was treated. Wood has natural antiseptic properties, and when cared for properly, doesn’t harbor bacteria quite like plastic does. Therefore, wooden cutting boards are far more hygienic in general. The porous nature of wood allows bacteria to seep into the fiber network in the wood where it eventually dies. Most of the time, this is a better option, but in the realm of wood kitchen utensils, you’ll want to take a closer look at the treatments. Treatments like food-grade mineral oil or beeswax are better than mystery lacquers.
- Bamboo: Bamboo is in it’s own category because it’s considered a grass and not wood. Bamboo has similar natural antiseptic properties as wood when cared for properly. However, bamboo is harder than most woods. Because it’s a grass, it grows far quicker and is considered more sustainable to harvest. The same rules of wood apply here because there will be treatments on the bamboo and you’ll want those ranging from waxes and food-grade mineral oils and not mystery lacquers.
- Plastics: Most of the polymers we saw were made from nylon, which can leach when exposed to heat, acid, or fat. However, it’s important to understand that when you use any types of plastic, the additives used to make them can escape the product and get into your food. Over time they will release microplastics into your food or other chemicals like phthalates, melamine, BPA or other types of bisphenols like BPS. Do not put them in the washing machine even though they claim to be “washing machine safe.” They are only telling you they will not melt in the washing machine, however, they are not NOT claiming that the additives inside the plastics will not break down and leach out of the products. As soon as you expose them to high heat, they start breaking down and can expose your family over time. Since exposing your plastic kitchen utensils to heat is their sole purpose, they will start to break down and you’ll want to avoid this category completely. These are not recommended products.
- Silicone: Silicone is also a polymer and has the ability to leach mystery additives over time and use, especially when exposed to heat, acid, or fat. This is also a problem. Just because silicone kitchen utensil companies call themselves “not-toxic” does not make them so. It’s similar to the claim that plastic kitchen utensil companies make when they call themselves “microwave-safe” or “dishwasher-safe,” which doesn’t mean what you think it means. Researchers have recently found that most silicone kitchen utensils are not as safe as previously claimed. Some of what was found were heavy metals like lead & cadmium. More on that down below.
What About Combo Materials?
We also found lots of combo materials. Combo materials would be when a kitchen utensil has a combination of materials like plastic and wood, or plastic and bamboo, or bamboo and silicone. In this case, you’ll need to use your common sense when materials are combined.
The question to ask yourself is this: “What material is touching my food?”
The answer to that question will tell you whether it’s safe for your family to use or not. For instance, sometimes you’ll find stainless steel or wood kitchen utensils that have a plastic or silicone handle. Those types of scenarios are fine because the handle will not be in contact with your food. What would not be recommended is if those combinations had a polymer like nylon or silicone touching your food.
Don’t forget the leaching rule when using polymers (plastic) around food:
- Avoid heat
- Avoid acid
- Avoid fat
When to Use or Not Use Silicone
Silicone is a polymer and just like any other polymer, it will leach its mystery additives when exposed to heat, acid, or high-fat contents. So when is it appropriate to use silicone when cooking? It’s complicated and you’ll have to make some judgment calls if you want to use it.
When not to Use Silicone
Silicone will leach its mystery additives when exposed to heat, acid, and fat. So do not use silicone for anything that would touch your food and go into the oven or microwave. It would also be wise to avoid silicone touching food that has high acidity (like tomatoes) or fat (like butter, full-fat milk, or egg yolks.)
Yes, many brands claim that silicone is non-toxic, but this is mostly marketing. In fact, a recent study found many problematic additives including hormone-disrupting chemicals were found in 82% of silicone kitchen utensils. These chemicals were classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic.
When to Use Silicone
Silicone can be used when your food is not full of acid or high fat or is not exposed to heat. Therefore, it may be okay to use a silicone spoon to get all those left over bits from your bowl into a baking pan, however, you may have some exposures if there is full-fat milk or eggs in the mixture. But it would not be recommended to use a silicone baking pan and put those contents into the oven.
Ultimately, it’s up to you how often you want to use silicone when cooking, but just be aware of the three ways silicone can leach mystery additives into your food:
- Fat
- Acid
- Heat
Cookware & Other Kitchen Accessories Recommended by Mamavation
Are you looking for additional non-toxic products recommended by Mamavation? Here’s a list of other items from investigations we have done.
Mamavation’s Investigation on Safest Kitchen Utensils
Not Our Favorite Kitchen Utensils
These kitchen appliances are made of polymers that are likely to leach when they are heated, or when around high fat and acidic foods. We do not recommend you purchase kitchen utensils from this category. And if you do purchase them, please do NOT put them in the dishwasher. Some sets in this category were mostly fine but had one or two items that were made from polymers.
- Cutlery Collection Silicone Cooking Utensil Set
- GreenLife Nylon & Wood Cooking Utensils with Ceramic Crock, 7-Piece Set | Charcoal Gray
- Hope30 Kitchen Custom Silicone Utensils Set with Bamboo Handles
- Kitchenaid Classic Tool & Gadget Set
- Our Place Utensil Essentials Set
- OXO 4-Piece Nylon Tool Set
- Public Goods Household Silicone Utensils Set (6 pc)
- Restaurant Ware Teal Silicone Cooking Utensil Set – 6-Piece
- Smirly Acacia Cooking Utensil Set
- Williams Sonoma Prep Tools Nonstick Utensils, Set of 8
- Zulay Kitchen Utensils Set – 23 Piece
Better Kitchen Utensils
This category is better than the “not our favorite” category but it still has some problems. Most of the brands here are using wood that is treated with a mystery chemical or a varnish.
Best Kitchen Utensils
These are the safest kitchen utensils. They are mostly stainless steel, wood, or bamboo. The wood or bamboo products are treated only with beeswax or food-safe mineral oils. We’ve also included a special section down below for people who are sensitive to nickel.
Special Category for People Needing 18/0 Stainless Steel Because They are Sensitive to Nickel: