For decades, Americans have been sold the slick fantasy that if your eggs don’t slide out of a pan like a Vegas card trick, you’re doing it wrong.
It began in the 1960s and 1970s, when Teflon pans flooded into American kitchens on a promise of domestic perfection: no scrubbing, no sticking, no mess. The clever marketing hid a dangerous truth: Teflon coatings were made with chemicals that can end up in food when pans overheat or are scratched. Behind closed doors, chemical companies knew of the toxic risks long before the public did.
These PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are called forever chemicals for good reason. They don’t break down, lingering in our blood, water and soil. They’ve been linked to cancer, infertility, thyroid disease, developmental delays and immune dysfunction.
When PFAS are made, to coat a pan, a raincoat or a mascara wand, they can contaminate the surrounding groundwater. Communities near manufacturing sites that use these chemicals have some of the most polluted drinking water in America. That’s why about 30 states, including my home state, Minnesota, have adopted restrictions on these chemicals, with at least 14 outright or partial bans on sales of consumer goods with PFAS.
California may soon follow suit. If Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the bill on his desk, cookware containing forever chemicals will be banned from sale in the state beginning in 2030. Because California is the fourth-largest economy in the world, it can help remake the industry in a positive way. America as a whole will be better off: healthier, safer and perhaps even more skilled at cooking. The only losers will be the companies that built fortunes convincing us we couldn’t live without their slippery science experiment.
There’s been significant backlash, including from celebrity chefs. But California’s proposal is a good one, given that the science is clear, and the economic arguments are tired ones. Eliminating PFAS in cookware would reduce the spread of contamination, protect future generations and, as a bonus, allow us to rediscover how to actually cook.
I understand the appeal of nonstick pans with PFAS for their price and seeming simplicity. Here’s the thing: Those pans aren’t even that good for cooking. For most of the foods we make at home — seared meats, sautéed vegetables, fried rice, pancakes — a well-seasoned carbon steel or cast-iron pan performs better. Those omelets everyone points to as the sacred domain of nonstick cookware? French chefs perfected them long before the chemical coating was invented. The technique is what matters; gentle heat, a whisper of butter or oil and a patient wrist are what ensure results. Not a chemical barrier.
What about the “easier cleanup” myth? That’s just another marketing masterpiece. Once you learn to care for carbon steel, stainless steel and cast-iron cookware, the cleanup takes seconds. A little hot water, a quick brush, a swipe of oil — that’s it. I’ve cooked for decades with these materials. I’ve made everything from scrambled eggs to sticky caramels and fish fillets, and I still haven’t found a reason to reach for anything coated with Teflon or for any other nonstick pan with forever chemicals. A good pan is like a trusted friend: It improves with time, instead of slowly poisoning you.
The industry, of course, doesn’t want you to know this. It’s spent many millions of dollars convincing Americans that nonstick is synonymous with modern tech and that all other pans are relics for masochists who enjoy scrubbing.
Lately, we’ve seen celebrity chefs who sell or endorse cookware lines echoing that message, warning that a ban on PFAS will harm home cooks or limit consumer choice. Their arguments, that pans with PFAS are safe when used correctly, or that alternatives are too costly, or that good cooking results are solely the domain of these pans, crumble under scrutiny.
First, there are now plenty of affordable, safe options. A seasoned carbon steel wok can cost less than $30. Stainless steel skillets are in restaurant kitchens across America. Cast-iron pans can last generations, and some cost even less than their nonstick counterparts. A good carbon steel pan improves with time, and it doesn’t scratch the moment you use a metal spatula on it.
Americans are not as helpless as the industry imagines. We can learn and adapt. We did so after the country shifted away from leaded gasoline and asbestos. Forever chemicals are no different, just the next line item in a long list of miracle materials that turned out to be more curse than cure.
Some will say a ban in California will hurt manufacturers or lead to lawsuits. Maybe. But the status quo is already hurting something far more important: people. Farmers who can’t sell beef from cattle that grazed on PFAS-tainted pastures. Families who can’t trust their tap water. Workers exposed on the job. It’s a moral equation, not just a regulatory one.
I’ve spent my lifetime cooking and traveling. I believe that preparing food isn’t about shortcuts; it’s about attention. When we trade durable materials for throwaway ones, we lose not only our health, but also a small part of our humanity, the part that knows how to care for something, maintain it, season it and pass it down.
America doesn’t need nonstick pans, and Governor Newsom has the chance to accelerate the shift away from them. A California ban won’t just protect citizens from toxic chemicals; it will also remind us that better cooking doesn’t come from better coatings. It comes from better choices.
Andrew Zimmern writes the Substack Andrew Zimmern’s Spilled Milk.
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