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glazerboy wrote:

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If a major university is issuing press releases this poorly written I'll eat my hat.

To Make An Omelette, Does One Have To Take A Few Carcinogens?

January 15th, 2007

How To Make A Toxic Omelette Using A Ziploc Bag

While cross-referencing contents from last year's blog entries for the next Heck Of A Guy 2006 entry, I came across a warning about the Ziploc Omelette featured in the 22 July 2006 post, Mr. Science Gets Kinky; Breakfast Follows under the charming title, Ziploc Omelets may be Toxic.

The article opens with this paragraph,

This morning I was watching the Rachel Ray show, and she had a guest who demonstrated how to make omelets in a bag, which are simply eggs and other ingredients mashed together in a Ziploc baggie and submersed in boiling water to cook. I used to have several variations of this recipe on the camping site until a reader sent me a copy of this press release from the University of Illinois that was claiming that Ziploc omelets may be toxic.

The actual warning followed that introduction:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 3, 2006
http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/mclean/news/news3600.html

I thought it was important to respond to a questionably safe Food Fad, the ZIPLOC OMELET. It is the latest NOT recommended fad. Please… DON'T try this at home and we will tell you exactly why. What is circulating around again is instructions on cooking omelets in Ziploc bags. This is not recommended until further research is done on cooking with plastics. There is still question about the cancer causing breakdown of plastics and their contact with food during cooking.

We have contacted the Ziploc company and they replied by telling us that ZIPLOC® brand Bags cannot be used to boil food. They also told us that they do not manufacture a "boilable" bag…. yet.

They do not recommend using any ZIPLOC® brand Bag in boiling water, or to "boil" in the microwave. ZIPLOC® brand Bags are made from polyethylene plastic with a softening point of approximately 195 degrees Fahrenheit. By pouring near boiling water (water begins to boil at 212 degrees) into the bag, or putting the bag into the water, the plastic could begin to melt. Might I add that eggs and cheese have fat which gets much hotter than water thus the likelihood of melting the plastic increases.

It is so easy to start something unhealthy like the idea of a ZIPLOC OMELET. All you have to do is type it up and send it out to everyone you know via e-mail. It spreads like wild fire. The ZIPLOC OMELET instructions start out by telling you "This works great !!!" But who ever started the idea had not contacted the company who manufactures the bag to see if such cooking techniques were recommended. Therefore people receiving the instructions might just assume this idea is safe and it is not.

The specific concern centers on the possible contamination of foods with known carcinogens that may be present in plastic containers and wraps. This issue is certain to generate much research to clarify the potential risks. Until this issue is fully resolved, consumers who want to take a cautious approach should not use Ziploc type bags for boiling food in water or in the microwave. People should continue making omelets the old traditional way until plastic bag manufacturers come out with an approved safe bag that while heated containing food will produce no carcinogens.

Well, Phooey

My first thought, of course, was "Well, Phooey - now I have to write one of those You know that great idea I suggested? Well, maybe it wasn't such a great idea after all posts."

My second thought was, "The University of Illinois is using my tax money to warn citizens of the dangers of Ziploc omelettes? And the warning doesn't have any of those 18-syllable chemical names, scientific hedging, or a single request for grant money for a full-fledged study of the Ziploc-egg carcinogen scourge? What's that all about?"

My third thought was that in one line of 23 words, "Might I add that eggs and cheese have fat which gets much hotter than water thus the likelihood of melting the plastic increases," this "press release from the University of Illinois" manages to demonstrate deficient scientific knowledge, several grammatical errors, and an incredibly snotty tone.

Revelations

Such thoughts led to a few internet searches which, in turn, revealed the following:

1. The Ziploc Omelette¹ recipe can be found on multiple web sites and is popular with campers, large families, and, particularly, the Girl Scouts, who have apparently been making this concoction, using one kind of plastic bag or another, for at least 15 years.

2. The warning, exactly as printed above, can be found on at least 35 web sites, often preceded by headings that are characterized by all caps and multiple exclamation marks.

3. One web site where the warning cannot be found, however, is its original home: "http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/mclean/news/news3600.html"

Further, a search of that site, "http://web.extension.uiuc.edu," shows several references to "Ziploc" but none to "Ziploc Omelet," "Ziploc Omelette" or, indeed, to any terms unique to that document.

4. The sharp-eyed reader might have noted that the point of origin of the "press release from the University of Illinois that was claiming that Ziploc omelets may be toxic" is not "http://www.uillinois.edu," which is the web site of the University Of Illinois, but is instead "http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/mclean," which is the web site of the University of Illinois Extension - McLean County.

5. Question & Answer #4 of Ziploc's Frequently Asked Questions follow:

Q: Can I boil in Ziploc® Brand bags?
A: No. Ziploc® Brand bags are not designed to withstand the extreme heat of boiling.

6. Re the warning of "the possible contamination of foods with known carcinogens that may be present in plastic containers and wraps," I refer the anxious reader to this article from the ever-reliable Snopes Urban Legend site: Plastic-Tac-Toe. For the especially anxious reader, I have excerpted the first two lines of the piece, which goes into some detail:

Claim: Research has proved that microwaving foods in plastic containers releases cancer-causing agents into the foods.
Status: False.

So, What To Do, What To Do?

The only issue that is certain is that S.C. Johnson's lawyers are doing everything possible to assure that their employers aren't sued for anyone chowing down on a ham, cheese, and molten plastic omelette.

Making omelettes in a pan on a hot stove the way my mom taught me isn't difficult; consequently, it is, I suppose, relatively simple to eliminate any imminent danger the Ziploc Omelet may present by cooking ones eggs in an iron skillet - probably. I mean, it's not as though we have to invade a foreign country to look for WMDs that carry a payload of hot eggs & plastic.

On the other hand, there are still a batch of former Girl Scouts who have somehow survived this hazard.

As always, it comes down to an individual assessing the actual risks and benefits and decides.

Perhaps the most useful quotation from the press release is the warning that "It is so easy to start something unhealthy … . All you have to do is type it up and send it out to everyone you know via e-mail. It spreads like wild fire."

Yep.

Of course, the DrHGuy Message is

Maintain A High Index Of Suspicion Regarding Internet Reprints
Of Purported University Of Illinois Press Releases That Contain
Obvious Grammatical & Scientific Errors
And Are Written In A Shrewish Tone