A few days ago a mother asked me if I could heat her children's food in the microwave, because I had read that food lost property and the last thing I wanted was to do something negative with her little ones. I had read something about it a while ago and I even know of people who did not use the microwave at all because I had seen studies showing that plants washed down with water heated in the microwave ended up dying.
I do not know if you have ever thought about it, or if you have ever doubted the safety of the food you eat after putting it in the microwave, so just in case you doubt, or if now I just doubted you, then I will answer the question: Is there any danger of using the microwave to heat children's food?
What are microwaves?
Before talking about microwave ovens we should explain what are the microwaves that emit microwaves (worth the redundancy). Microwaves are high frequency radio waves that are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. They are used for television broadcasting, for the use of radars that help air and sea navigation and are used for telecommunications, including our essential mobile phones. Obviously, they are also used in kitchens, for heat or cook food, thanks to microwave ovens.
Microwaves are reflected, transmitted or absorbed depending on the material with which the wave contacts. The metallic materials fully reflect the microwaves and therefore cannot be introduced in a microwave. Nonmetallic materials, such as glass and some plastics, are transparent to microwaves and water-containing materials, such as food, liquids or tissues quickly absorb microwave energy by converting it to heat.
That is why one cannot put his cat in a microwave to dry it after being wet and that is why in the instructions they specify that we do not put animals (for that reason and because the legend tells that a lady killed her cat in the US by wanting to dry it in this way and won a lawsuit because in the instructions it did not state that it could not be done).
As I say, everything that carries water quickly absorbs waves, transforms energy into heat, and heats up.
Warm yes, cook carefully
As we all know that we have microwaves, not all foods heat up just as quickly nor do they all heat up in the same way. This depends on the water content, the density and the amount of food that we put inside.
Microwave energy does not penetrate thicker foods well and that could produce uneven cooking. This means that if we use a microwave to cook food, we have to keep in mind that if we leave it for a short time there may be uncooked areas at all, being raw or poorly made and, consequently, not killing microorganisms that could be dangerous for us or our children.
This is prevented by keeping the food in the microwave longer, cooking them until they have been done completely. Or basically, ignoring the recommendations that are usually given when cooking something, which already tells you that "so many minutes if you do it in the microwave, so many minutes if you do it in the oven".
Nutritious level the foods that we put in a microwave have the same nutritional value as those we cook in a normal oven. The difference is that, as microwave energy enters the food more quickly, heat is produced earlier and cooking time is reduced.
Beware of burns
Another thing we have to monitor is that of food burns. How many times we have not taken a very hot container, we have drunk a little of the surface of the liquid and we have seen that it was not too hot, but by turning it around we have seen that it was fine. How many times have we tried a piece of food and it was cold and when we took another piece we realized that it was terribly hot.
Well, when it comes to heating children's food, all we have to keep in mind is that do not put burning food in your mouth and burn with her. If what we heat is liquid, or a puree, be careful to give it a few turns beforehand, to achieve a uniform temperature and, above all, ensure that the container is not too hot so that they cannot burn when touched.
So, food doesn't become radioactive?
No. Neither food becomes radioactive nor will anything happen to us by eating it. Once the microwave turns off the microwaves stop emitting and there is no food left inside the food.
At the nutrient level, as I say, there are no differences with the food made in the oven. And if at the beginning you have clicked To the link of the study of the plants, I recommend that you go through Snopes, where they did the same study with water boiled in microwaves, normal water and boiled water in a gas stove, used at room temperature with three different plants. There were no differences and they showed that the "pearl" who did the first study just wanted fool people with a false revelation.
