Is Aluminum Foil a Safety Hazard?

Alüminyum folyo is a common household product that is commonly used in cooking. International students, in particular, often use aluminum foil when heating semi-finished products in ovens.

Some people think that using aluminum foil in cooking can cause aluminum to seep into your food and endanger your health, but others think it is completely safe to use. This paper explores the risks associated with the use of aluminum foil and whether it is suitable for daily use.

What is aluminum foil?

Aluminum foil or tin foil is as thin as shiny as paper. It is made by rolling large aluminum plates until less than 0.2 mm thick. It is industrially used for a variety of uses, including packaging, insulation, and transportation. It is also widely used in grocery stores for household use. At home, aluminum foil is used to store food, cover baking surfaces and wrap foods such as meat to prevent them from losing moisture while cooking. People can also use aluminum foil to wrap and protect more refined foods such as vegetables during barbecue. Finally, it can be used to arrange baking dishes to keep items clean, but also to scrub trays or grill to remove stubborn stains and residues. Aluminum foil is a thin, multifunctional metal commonly used in homes, especially in cooking.

Food contains a small amount of aluminum

Aluminum is one of the most abundant metals on earth. In its natural state, it binds to other elements such as phosphate and sulfate in soil, rocks, and clay. However, it is also present in small amounts in the air, water, and food. In fact, it exists naturally in most foods, including fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, cereals, and dairy products. Some foods, such as tea, mushrooms, spinach and radishes, are also easier to absorb and accumulate than others. In addition, some of the aluminum you eat comes from processed food additives, such as preservatives, colorants, antiblockers, and thickeners. Please note that commercially produced foods with food additives may contain more aluminum than home cooking foods.

The actual amount of aluminum in the food you eat depends largely on the following factors:

Absorption: the difficulty of food to absorb and absorb aluminum

Soil: Aluminum content in the soil where food is grown

Packaging: If the food is already packaged and stored in aluminum packaging

Additives: whether some additives are added in the process of food

Aluminum can also be ingested with high aluminum content drugs (such as antacids). Regardless, the amount of aluminum in food and drugs is not considered a problem because the aluminum you consume is actually only a small amount absorbed. The rest is excreted through your feces. Furthermore, in healthy people, the absorbed aluminum is then excreted from the urine. Usually, the small amount of aluminum you consume every day is considered safe. Aluminum intake through food, water, and drugs. However, most of the aluminum you consume will be excreted in feces and urine and therefore will not be considered harmful.

Cooking with aluminum foil may increase the aluminum content of the food

Most of the aluminum you consume comes from food. However, studies have shown that aluminum foil, cooking utensils and containers immerse aluminum into food. This means that cooking with aluminum foil may increase the aluminum content in the diet. The amount of aluminum coming into a food when cooked with aluminum foil is influenced by many factors, such as:

Temperature: Cooking at higher temperatures

Food: Cook with acidic foods, such as tomatoes, cabbage, and rhubarb

Certain ingredients: Use salt and spices in cooking

But the amount of infiltration into food during cooking may vary. For example, one study found that cooking red meat with aluminum foil increased its aluminum content by 89% to 378%. These studies have raised concerns that the regular use of aluminum foil in cooking may be harmful to your health. However, there is currently no strong evidence for an increased disease risk by using aluminum foil. Cooking with aluminum foil increases the aluminum content in the food. However, the number is very small, and the researchers think it is safe.