To tell MIL to stop cooking food like that

[Ohhbaby]

My mother in law defrosts food, especially meat in the plastic packages / clingwrap that it comes in, in the mocrowave. Or sometime she will pop it in one of those ziplock bags and take it out of the freezer and pop it in the microwave for 10 or 20 minutes to defrost.

When it comes out that plastic is sooo hot. And it's so bad for our health. And it is not like she just pops it in plastic Tupperware(which is bad enough), it is literally clingwrap.

I know we can not side step every health hazard, I mean there is pesticide and microplastic in probably all our food, but I feel like we should try and sidestep those that we can.

I have 2 small children, 18 months and 3 years and pregnant with our 3rd. I really really dislike the thought of my children eating that meat .

Would you say something to your MIL or not?
How would you say it?
With my own mom I feel very comfortable to say something. "Ooh mom did you know it's really bad for our health if you do xyz"
But I feel like my MIL is sensitive. My husband grew up drinking hot chocolate in his bottle, and eating lost of sugar and processed food. So I'm already always saying, "aw mom thank you but we prefer them not to have sweets every half an hour etc.
We have different ways of doing things, especially health wise. I don't want her to continuesly feel like I know better and am questioning her decisions, but man, it's bugging me so much!

I would be upset too @Ohhbaby.
But how do you get it across to her without a nuclear fallout

C'est ma question!!

I'd certainly let your dh deal with it.

No the split vote is because some people have decided that it is impossible to eliminate all risk in life and living until they are 100 isnt necessarily a 'win' so for an enjoyable and stress free life we don't sweat the small stuff.

Does anyone genuinely talk like that?

Can you find something on the WWW that proves your point?

Preferably short, & in language easy for her to understand.
Print it, & get DH to give it to her.

But when you defrost meat it doesn't get hot!

OP's dislike of MIL comes simmering through the thread!

shes putting it on too long so it gets hot

get her one of them defrosting mats apprently doesnt take long at all to defrost meat

If someone I was cooking for 'popped' into my kitchen to fuck about with what I was doing they would receive short shrift and I would not be feeding them again. That is so ill mannered and rude of you.
If someone cooks for you, you do not criticise, complain or make negative comments. You say thank you very much that was lovely. If it bothers you that much don't eat there. Please tell me you have basic manners!?

How often do you eat there?

I worked in a London restaurant where you wouldn't believe what got microwaved tbh, it's a lot more hidden than you realize.

Next time you're in a restaurant ask to see the kitchens for 10 minutes 😄

I’d tell her I just read about it recently and ask if she ever heard it. Get her opinion.

See I like that idea. It's diplomatic and well thought through

I think you need to be direct but polite, and say you've become aware of the campaigns in the US and EU to examine and regulate the use of plasticisers in food wrapping because of increasing awareness of migration of various substances in plastic into foods, especially when the plastic is in contact with fatty foods (meats, cheeses).

Even the manufacturers caution against this.
uspackagingandwrapping.com/plastic-wrap-101.html
Scroll down to 'Can I use plastic wrap in the microwave'.

Microwaves heat unevenly, even when defrosting.

I wouldn't eat food she has defrosted like this.

You need to let her signs of feeling insulted or affronted roll right off your back. Stick to your guns.

@Itwasafterallallaboutme
If anyone lives long enough, eventually they will get cancer.

The way we live merely determines which cancer arises first, and if it arises before another health condition which kills us

@Ddifficultday Absolutely- that’s why we use stainless steel and glass bottles and containers rather than plastic.

@Spaghettieis You’re right, there are many other things we need to be careful of such as BPA linings in cans etc. In fact, there are so many toxins everywhere that reducing them in any way possible is really important.

If we think along the lines of “it’s just once a week we eat the plastic toxic meat” and multiply it by all the things that we do “just once a week”, it actually adds up to a lot of crap that we are putting in our bodies.

It’s not really time consuming to avoid putting plastic in the microwave. There’s only so much you can control but this? It is not a big deal. I’ve been doing it most of the time for decades.

It's not about how much time it takes to remove plastic, it's about the potential hassle of falling out with MIL. Relationships are more important than fretting about some microplastics, when they're all around us anyway

And it isn’t about “living to 100”. It’s avoiding ingesting cancer-causing chemicals where possible. Especially for your children’s sake.

I’m not talking about the MIL situation but all the people acting like it’s stupid to do so at home.

Ddifficultday - I expect there are quite a few people in their 90s who have never had cancer. Are you saying they haven't lived long enough?

Waitrose doesn't use any BPA in its packaging. Yay. I will not die of plastic poisoning 😂 (probably).

@2dogsandabudgie

I'm saying if we theoretically lived to 150 or 200.

People who reach their 90's are part if the 'die other methods' group yes

It doesn't stop you dying

It's dangerous to defrost meat in the microwave anyway, and it always comes out uneven, and of course the plastic is not meant to be in there for 20 minutes. Surprised it doesn't melt onto the food. Find some info about food safety from a reputable source and show it to her. Say you did an online food safety course or something recently and wanted 'share some tips'. If you do it nicely and not bossily, she hopefully will listen and change her ways. If not then your family cannot eat her meat! : (