Baker's secret - Is it also poisonous to birds

[Janfromboone]

I broke my old clay Romertopf (did I spell that right) and I'm looking for a large roasting pan to replace it. I may just see if I can find a Romertopf. I did, however, see a light weight roaster pan coated with Baker's Secret and my friend was raving about how she loves it and nothing sticks. They make lots of oven pans. I don't know if this would work because of Tobie. Any one know what I'm talking about and if it's safe.

[Guest]

Don't use it! Anything non-stick is most likely made of some sort of Teflon. I learned this the hard way!

 

I can barely talk/type about this because the pain and guilt is so huge. But anyway, for the sake of other birds, and their people, I'm going to type this out quickly.

 

Last December, I bought a piece of what looked like a rolled up sheet of dark grey paper, approximately the color of charcoal. It came rolled up like aluminum or plastic wrap comes rolled and in a cardboard box.

 

The packaging touted that you can place the product in the bottom of your oven and if food cooking in the oven spills over, that you simply wipe the sheet clean and there's no oven mess to wrestle with! So I looked and looked and looked at EVERY WORD on the packaging and there was absolutely no mention of PTFE or Teflon. (PTFE stands for polytetrafluoroethylene.) Since it didn't state that it was Teflon or PTFE, I (STUPIDLY!!!!!) thought that it must not be. And hey, who doesn't want to just wipe away those pesky spills of baked-on food, right? So I purchased it and laid it in the bottom of my clean oven and promptly didn't give it a second thought.

 

Well, come a month or two later, I used my oven, and eleven minutes later my parrotlet was dead. Please, people, don't use ANY non-stick ANYTHING, because it no doubt has some sort of PTFE product in use so as to make the food not stick.

 

And by the way, I did have my precious boy necropsied and the vet did say that his lungs had been attacked and that was the cause of death. Oh, crap, I gotta stop typing. I am in this coffee shop bawling like a crazy person. Anyway.

 

The vet said that because the product was not for human consumption, and would not come in contact with the cooked food to be eaten, that the product by law did not HAVE TO BE labeled as PTFE or Teflon. And you know what really angers me? The company that sells this product NO DOUBT knows that certain demographics (health nuts, bird owners, etc.) do not want to use PTFE or Teflon, so rather than risk losing their pathetic $7.99 sale, the greedy bastards leave the labeling of what the product is exactly intentionally indefinite/undefined/ambiguous.

 

I have to stop typing about this right now. The guilt and pain I feel is immense and I hope that all of you are ever-vigilant about not using anything non-stick. My boy was healthy and happy and he and I had a soul-connection like very few beings and I have EVER known.

 

RIP, little sweet boy. I love you and I'm so sorry.

Edited October 24, 2010 by >^..^<

[Azzie]

http://bakerssecret.com/index.asp?pageId=63

 

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=15+1829&aid=2874 Scroll down to the paragraph called What products may have PTFE. Baker's Secret is mentioned as being safe.

 

None of the sites mentioning Baker's Secret mention that it contains Teflon. I did find some stuff on the safety of silicone coated bakewear:

 

http://www.birdboard.com/forum/f19/silicone-bakeware-15709.html

[Jayd]

>^..^< would not give you miss information. Baker's Secret even says not to store food on it... To err on the safe side is best...The coating is silicone, it is a coating and is capable of separation from the bass metal, when scratched, the product rusts. The key words to the use of silicone products is, 'we don't know, and it should be"[?] Thank you >^..^< and Azzie.....

Edited October 24, 2010 by Jayd

[Talon]

I agree with Jayd on this. I remember a thread here several years ago. It was a cooking product that one of our members had researched by calling the company and specifically asking them if it was safe to use around a bird. They said 'all their products were safe'. Well, they went ahead, purchased it and used it and their bird died within 30 minutes of using it. The company denied everything....

 

PLEASE err on the side of caution and Don't use it. It's not worth the pain and heartbreak if God forbid something terrible happened. It is YOUR job to keep your precious baby safe, and I am sure you will.

[ranaz]

OMG...how can some people be so mean??? Im so sorry for the loss and I hope no one gets to go through that.

One can never be too careful

[Janfromboone]

Thanks to all for your comments. Guess I'll be looking for a new Romertopf. It's made of clay.

 

So sorry about the loss of your parrotlet, fledgeling. The company should post a warning. I've read on here from other people who have lost birds with the same product.

Edited October 27, 2010 by Janfromboone

[Guest]

Well, like I said, the company who makes the product isn't about to post a warning - they don't want to miss out on a measly $7.99 sale, and they know certain groups of people do not want to use anything with PTFE, so they simply don't state what their product is made of. It's sneaky and rotten and I can only imagine how much heartache there is due to their practice of keeping the information off the package.

[Azzie]

A company called Kitchen Kapers appears to stock these clay pots:

 

http://search.kitchenkapers.com/search?catalog=kkapers2&page=1&display_type=_Grid_&query=romer&x=26&y=6 and they have an online shop as well:

 

http://www.kitchenkapers.com/store-locations.html

 

 

Here's another store that stocks them:

 

http://www.specialtyfoodamerica.com/CATALOG_ITEM/ROMERTOPF-Health_by_design.html

 

Or here lol

 

http://www.2007fordcars.com/ why it's called fordcars I don't know.

[Janfromboone]

Thanks Azzie for the information. I'll look into it.

[Chris and Matt]

Ya know, our microwave have some sort of nonstick coating inside of it, I'm wondering what on earth it is and how safe it is. Is something inside a microwave as much of a concern as something that would be used on a stove or in an oven?