The Gangsta Gardner

Yeah, okay buster.

A January 2013 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that melamine can leach from dishes into food, and consequently your body, if you use melamine tableware with hot foods. The study looked at 12 individuals. Six ate hot soup for breakfast out of melamine bowls and the other six ate it out of ceramic bowls. The study found higher levels of melamine excreted from the individuals’ urine after using a melamine bowl as opposed to a ceramic bowl.

“Although the clinical significance of what levels of urinary melamine concentration has not yet been established, the consequences of long-term melamine exposure still should be of concern,” wrote the study’s authors, led by Dr. Chia-Fang Wu, a researcher at Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan.

As the study’s authors note, this study didn’t look at any potential health risks associated with using melamine tableware—just that the chemical can leach into food from the dishes. In high concentrations, melamine contamination can put people at risk for kidney stones, kidney failure and even death. The FDA notes, however, that the risk level of melamine seeping into food from tableware is low, and that melamine tableware can be used so long as you don’t heat food using the tableware, especially acidic food.

Thanks for the pics.

It’s funny. I get attached to inexpensive flatware. I like light weight forks and the sharp prongs that they usually have. If you are using them to hold meat for cutting and they bend it’s no problem, you simply bend them back again. I also like inexpensive knives and spoons. I like their light weight and I have design preferences with them as well.