Thread: Reports of Shattering Cookware on the Rise

I wonder if anything similar has been reported about Corningware? I have a piece from the 60s and would like to think it's safe. (The old cornflower set....)

Whew! What an indictment of an entire industry.
Thanks for posting this, Janet. It has changed
a couple of my plans.

Assuming no glass cookware, what do you use
in its place, Corelle? A different plastic compound?
I was set to buy the famous three-size mixing bowl
set primarily for cooking, not now.

pavane

On Friday, December 21, 2012 9:33:17 AM UTC-6, Kalmia wrote:
> I wonder if anything similar has been reported about Corningware? I have a piece from the 60s and would like to think it's safe. (The old cornflower set....)

If it's from the 1960's it's not Corningware, but Corning Ware, real permaceram. If it has the cornflower, it is the real thing. I love my Blue Cornflower Corning Ware. Still, it's not metal, and shouldn't be subjected to extreme temperature changes.

I have one of these: http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedi...roaster-w-rack

--Bryan

On Fri, 21 Dec 2012 10:41:01 -0500, "pavane" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Whew! What an indictment of an entire industry.
>Thanks for posting this, Janet. It has changed
>a couple of my plans.
>
>Assuming no glass cookware, what do you use
>in its place, Corelle? A different plastic compound?
>I was set to buy the famous three-size mixing bowl
>set primarily for cooking, not now.
>
>pavane

I'm all metal now -- often the new non-stick. There are many colors
for the exterior as well as interior and that makes them suitable for
table. I sold all the last of my glass cookware at a yard sale. I
wonder how safe the ceramic products are? There are many ceramic
pieces that claim oven, refrigerator, freezer.
Janet US

pavane wrote:
>
> Whew! What an indictment of an entire industry.
> Thanks for posting this, Janet. It has changed
> a couple of my plans.

Thing is the article is on bakeware not cookware. There's a big
difference.

> Assuming no glass cookware, what do you use
> in its place, Corelle? A different plastic compound?
> I was set to buy the famous three-size mixing bowl
> set primarily for cooking, not now.

We do get Corelle and Pyrex. Neither are as good as the original forms
but they do work in the oven and microwave. Just put on a cooling tray
when they come out.

We have also taken up buying some silicone items.

"Kalmia" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
>
>
> I wonder if anything similar has been reported about Corningware? I have
> a piece from the 60s and would like to think it's safe. (The old
> cornflower set....)

I have had Corningware shatter. If you Google, you'll find that it's not all
that rare. Recently, a Corningware plate shattered and it shattered into
really sharp shards.

Cheri

"Cheri" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> "Kalmia" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]..
>>
>>
>> I wonder if anything similar has been reported about Corningware? I have
>> a piece from the 60s and would like to think it's safe. (The old
>> cornflower set....)
>
> I have had Corningware shatter. If you Google, you'll find that it's not
> all that rare. Recently, a Corningware plate shattered and it shattered
> into really sharp shards.
>
> Cheri


Meant to say Corelle plate.

On 12/21/2012 5:25 AM, Janet Bostwick wrote:
> By JoNel Aleccia, NBC News
>
> Debbie Parker of Pontiac, Mich., says she still can't shake the memory
> of Christmas morning brunch two years ago when the festive egg
> casserole she baked in a glass Pyrex pan "exploded" without warning on
> her holiday table.

Reports of shattering Pyrex products have been around for decades. I
wouldn't think that it's much of a problem nowdays because who the heck
still uses Pyrex? I think that reports of cookware "exploding" might be
a slight exaggeration. My recommendation is that you don't ever heat
glass products - it just ain't natural.

>
> “There was this loud crash. We looked to see the dish shattered with
> shards of glass all around,” recalled Parker, 70, who said she found
> pieces three feet away under the Christmas tree.
>
> No one was hurt, but Parker said she shudders even now at the thought
> of her young grandchildren, then ages 1 and 5, who were seated at the
> table for the family's traditional meal.
>
> “It was right at their eye level or face level,” she said. “We could
> have spent Christmas Day at the hospital.”
>
> Other consumers say they have been hurt by suddenly shattering glass
> cookware, including James Sinton, 29, of Houston. Medical records show
> that he needed stitches in April 2011 to fix a gash on the inside of
> his right arm after he said a large Pyrex measuring cup broke when he
> poured boiling water in it to make tea.
>
> “It exploded. There’s no other way to describe it. It instantly became
> shrapnel,” recalled Sinton, who said he slipped on the wet floor and
> landed on the glass pieces, cutting himself.
>
> Such incidents are rare, but reports of glassware abruptly shattering
> have climbed sharply in recent years, NBC News has learned. And a
> controversy is heating up over whether the pans or the users are to
> blame.
>
> Complaints about the problem to the federal Consumer Product Safety
> Commission rose from just two in 1999 to 144 in 2011. That's a total
> of 576 during those 13 years, records show. This year, 93 incidents
> had been reported as of mid-November.
>
> Emergency room reports collected in a federal database show that some
> consumers claim to have suffered cuts to the face when glass pans
> broke as they opened hot ovens, or claim they’ve been injured by
> spattering pan juices or hot grease after dishes disintegrated.
>
> At the advocacy agency ConsumerAffairs.com, which posts reviews about
> popular goods and services, the two top brands of glass cookware in
> the U.S. -- Pyrex and Anchor Hocking -- have drawn nearly 1,600
> reports combined, mostly accounts of unexpected breakage, since the
> site began in 1998.
>
> “This is without a doubt the highest number of complaints about a
> single type of cookware or kitchen accessory,” said Jim Hood, founder
> and editor of the site, which has been reporting on the problem since
> 2005.
>
> Sheer volume might account for some of the complaints, considering
> that glass bakeware is found in at least 80 percent of U.S. homes.
> World Kitchen, the maker of U.S. Pyrex, produces more than 44 million
> dishes a year, company officials say. Anchor Hocking makes more than
> 30 million pieces a year.
>
> The rise in reported incidents has raised new questions about the
> possible causes of unexpected breakage during cooking. A recent
> article by two scientists at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa
> suggests that today’s pans are more prone to sudden shattering than
> your grandmother’s hand-me-downs.
>
> But World Kitchen officials have filed a trade disparagement lawsuit
> disputing that article and claiming that the researchers used faulty
> science to reach their conclusions. They say that any problems with
> shattering are rare, and that when they do occur, it may be because
> consumers don't follow the directions included with all cookware.
>
> Pyrex packaging
>
> A pamphlet with instructions about proper use is included with every
> Pyrex product.
>
> Many cooks are surprised to learn that companies, including World
> Kitchen and Anchor Hocking, have specific safety rules for using glass
> bakeware.
>
> In instruction leaflets and even embossed on the glass pans
> themselves, the companies stress correct use.
>
> In responses to complaints filed on the CPSC's SaferProducts.gov site,
> World Kitchen posts these instructions:
> •Always place hot glass bakeware on a dry, cloth potholder or towel.
> Never place hot glass bakeware on top of the stove, on a metal trivet,
> on a damp towel, directly on a counter or in a sink.
> •Never put glass bakeware directly on a burner or under a broiler.
> •Always allow the oven to fully preheat before placing the glass
> bakeware in the oven.
> •Always cover the bottom of the dish with liquid before cooking meat
> or vegetables.
>
> People who pull their pans out of the oven and set them on a “wet or
> cool surface” such as a sink or a granite countertop -- found in more
> and more kitchens these days -- risk sudden temperature changes that
> could induce shattering, glassware companies say.
>
> The glassware makers also urge consumers to be careful with their
> pans; impact accounts for far more breakage than heat changes -- and
> it also can weaken the products, raising the chance of shattering,
> they say.
>
> World Kitchen officials said in a letter to James Sinton that an
> examination of his broken measuring cup showed it may have been
> bruised by “banging” or “dropping.” Sinton, however, said he’d just
> bought the glassware weeks earlier and didn’t misuse it. World Kitchen
> didn’t analyze samples of Debbie Parker’s broken dish, and they say
> they can’t be sure it even was Pyrex, according to press reports after
> the incident.
>
> Laura Lowe, 47, of Evans, Ga., said her chicken dinner was ruined last
> December when the glass baking pan she was using shattered suddenly
> inside her oven.
>
> At least one cook whose glass pan shattered suddenly last year said
> she had no idea there were rules about use, especially for such a
> well-known brand.
>
> “I didn’t follow their directions, but it was Pyrex,” said Laura Lowe,
> a 47-year-old piano teacher from Evans, Ga.
>
> She said it never would have occurred to her to add liquid to chicken
> in a baking dish. She assumed that the new glass pans she used were
> the same material as the pans passed down from her mother and
> grandmother under a brand once advertised as “icebox-to-oven”
> bakeware.
>
> There’s no question that the glass pans made in the U.S. today are not
> your grandmother’s Pyrex.
>
> The original Corning Inc. pans, invented in 1915, were made from a
> particularly strong material, borosilicate glass. Virtually all glass
> bakeware sold in the U.S. since the 1980s is now made of a different
> material, soda lime silicate glass, said Daniel Collins, a Corning
> spokesman.
>
> Company officials say that soda lime silicate glass is better able to
> withstand impact if banged or dropped and that it is better for the
> environment. Ceramics experts also note that it’s cheaper than
> borosilicate glass.
>
> Recently, Richard Bradt and Richard Martens, the Alabama scientists,
> set out to explain the increase in reports of shattering. They said
> they calculated the breaking range for the glass used to make dishes
> in the U.S. today -- and compared it with that for old-style glass
> used in original Pyrex.
>
> Then Bradt, a materials engineer, and Martens, an atomic probe
> microscopist, bought six new glass pans in local stores -- three
> Pyrex, three Anchor Hocking -- and tested them in Martens’
> photoelasticity lab for signs of heat tempering, which boosts the
> strength of glass.
>
> Their article, published this fall in the American Ceramic Society
> Bulletin, concluded that the newer glass is far less able to withstand
> rapid swings in temperature than the older material now used mostly in
> pans sold in Europe.
>
> “The margin of safety … is borderline,” the scientists wrote.
>
> That conclusion, however, is hotly contested by the glassware makers.
>
> “Anchor’s tempered soda-lime glass bakeware has been in the
> marketplace for close to 30 years with an excellent safety and
> consumer satisfaction record,” spokeswoman Barbara Wolf said in a
> statement.
>
> World Kitchen officials maintain there were errors in the researchers’
> work, namely, that they didn’t fully account for the company’s
> heat-strengthening process.
>
> “The Bulletin feature story contains serious flaws, inaccuracies and
> highly misleading assertions and assumptions,” said Ed Flowers, the
> firm’s senior vice president, in a statement to NBC News.
>
> World Kitchen, which acquired U.S. rights to the Pyrex trademark from
> Corning in 1998, is now suing the American Ceramic Society, the two
> researchers and a publicist over the trade journal article. The
> company has demanded a retraction, claiming that the scientists have
> launched a deliberate “campaign of disparagement” against U.S.-made
> glass cookware, including Pyrex, according to a complaint filed in
> federal court.
>
> “Defendants have purposely but needlessly frightened consumers into
> the false belief that Pyrex glass cookware is unsafe for normal
> kitchen use and could pose an unreasonable risk of serious injury to
> those who use it,” the complaint states.
>
> Bradt and Martens are standing by their conclusions. So is the
> American Ceramic Society, which has refused to retract the paper.
>
> Independent ceramics experts who reviewed Bradt and Martens' paper for
> NBC News found it to be fundamentally sound, though they said more
> testing was needed to affirm the conclusions.
>
> Glass bakeware under fire
> This is hardly the first time that glass bakeware has come under fire.
> In 2010, Consumer Reports magazine investigated complaints of
> shattering cookware by conducting its own tests on borosilicate and
> soda lime silicate pans. In a dramatic video demonstration, the
> magazine concluded that the newer pans, including those made by World
> Kitchen and Anchor Hocking, were more likely to shatter under extreme
> conditions than the original Pyrex.
>
> Federal safety officials who've looked into the problem say that while
> there have been injuries, no deaths have been attributed to the
> unexpected breakage. There are not enough cases to estimate how many
> people might be hurt in the U.S. each year, said Scott Wolfson,
> spokesman for the CPSC. Wolfson wouldn’t speculate about what’s behind
> the growing numbers. He said the agency analyzed the issue in 2008,
> but found no cause to recall the glassware.
>
> World Kitchen officials described the Consumer Reports piece as
> “seriously flawed.” As for the ceramics journal report, they say that
> Bradt had a conflict of interest because he has served as a paid
> witness in lawsuits against makers of glass cookware.
>
> Bradt acknowledged that he has been hired as an expert witness on
> behalf of clients who brought lawsuits against U.S. glassware makers
> about the products in recent years. He would not name any companies
> involved in those lawsuits, citing confidentiality requirements. The
> cases were settled out of court, he said.
>
> World Kitchen also emphasized that each report to the CPSC is merely a
> consumer complaint and has not been investigated or confirmed by the
> agency.
>
> George Quinn, a retired senior ceramic engineer with the National
> Institute of Standards and Technology, reviewed the ACS paper for
> Bradt before it was published. Quinn was among several peers in the
> ceramics field who reviewed the authors' drafts.
>
> “My own professional opinion is that the thermal strengthening may not
> be adequate for temperatures in the home kitchen,” he said.
>
> He said he handles glass dishes in his own kitchen “with extreme
> caution.”
>
> “I’ll set it down on a cloth or on a wooden block,” Quinn said. “I
> will put a towel over the Pyrex as I am handling it, so if it should
> break, I will be protected.”
>
> Debbie Parker preserved the shattered dish of egg casserole that she
> said 'exploded' on her holiday table in 2010.
>
> Debbie Parker said she still uses the old Pyrex pans she got decades
> ago, but won't buy new products.
>
> Parker says she is certain she followed all the rules for proper
> baking during her holiday brunch. After the new pan broke, she wrote
> detailed records about the timing, temperature and treatment of her
> glass Christmas pan.
>
> Still, she says, it shattered. When she complained to World Kitchen
> about her broken Christmas casserole and the danger it posed to her
> family, she says the company offered to send a new pan.
>
> “They wanted to replace it. I just laughed,” she said, referring to
> World Kitchen. “I wouldn’t have another ‘new’ piece of Pyrex in my
> home.”
>

On 12/21/2012 3:25 PM, Cheri wrote:
> "Cheri" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]..
>> "Kalmia" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]..
>>>
>>>
>>> I wonder if anything similar has been reported about Corningware? I
>>> have a piece from the 60s and would like to think it's safe. (The
>>> old cornflower set....)
>>
>> I have had Corningware shatter. If you Google, you'll find that it's
>> not all that rare. Recently, a Corningware plate shattered and it
>> shattered into really sharp shards.
>>
>> Cheri
>
>
> Meant to say Corelle plate.

I remember when Corelle first came out and my mom bought some, they
claimed it was shatterproof. She purposely threw a plate on the floor
to see if it would break. It didn't, but they certainly can. And when
they do, yes, very sharp shards!

Jill

On 12/21/2012 3:24 PM, Cheri wrote:
> "Kalmia" <[email protected]> wrote
>> I wonder if anything similar has been reported about Corningware? I
>> have a piece from the 60s and would like to think it's safe. (The old
>> cornflower set....)
>
> I have had Corningware shatter. If you Google, you'll find that it's not
> all that rare. Recently, a Corningware plate shattered and it shattered
> into really sharp shards.
>
The Corning Corelle plates (and the new, thin Corningware) are not the
same as the old pyro-ceram cookware. The thin stuff, as you've seen,
practically explodes into dangerous, extremely sharp fragments. The
pyro-ceram stuff is much sturdier, and doesn't break easily - and when
it does break, it's not shard-like.
Corning no longer makes it, but it's now being produced in France, to
the same standards as the old, good, stuff.

On 2012-12-21, dsi1 <[email protected]> wrote:

> Reports of shattering Pyrex products have been around for decades. I

.....273 lines of text....

Strange, you didn't strike me as retarded.

nb

On Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:06:36 -0500, S Viemeister
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Corning no longer makes it, but it's now being produced in France, to
> the same standards as the old, good, stuff.

What's the brand name?

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On 12/21/2012 11:13 AM, notbob wrote:
> On 2012-12-21, dsi1 <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Reports of shattering Pyrex products have been around for decades. I
>
> ....273 lines of text....
>
> Strange, you didn't strike me as retarded.
>
> nb
>

Well, ain't we all feeling all smug and superior. Over such a small
thing too. If you had been paying any attention, you would have noticed
that I posted after the first paragraph. I count 7 lines of text
including 2 blank spaces. Who's feeling all smug and superior now?

My suggestion is that you start using Google Groups if you can't handle
273 lines of text.

Janet Bostwick wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Dec 2012 10:41:01 -0500, "pavane" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Whew! What an indictment of an entire industry.
>> Thanks for posting this, Janet. It has changed
>> a couple of my plans.
>>
>> Assuming no glass cookware, what do you use
>> in its place, Corelle? A different plastic compound?
>> I was set to buy the famous three-size mixing bowl
>> set primarily for cooking, not now.
>>
>> pavane
>
> I'm all metal now -- often the new non-stick. There are many colors
> for the exterior as well as interior and that makes them suitable for
> table. I sold all the last of my glass cookware at a yard sale. I
> wonder how safe the ceramic products are? There are many ceramic
> pieces that claim oven, refrigerator, freezer.
> Janet US

And some of us collect older Pyrex etc. Thank you for spurring me
to continue doing so.

On 12/21/2012 4:50 PM, sf wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:06:36 -0500, S Viemeister
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Corning no longer makes it, but it's now being produced in France, to
>> the same standards as the old, good, stuff.
>
> What's the brand name?
>
Da**ed if I can remember! I'll poke around and see if I made a note of it.

On 12/21/2012 5:31 PM, S Viemeister wrote:
> On 12/21/2012 4:50 PM, sf wrote:
>> On Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:06:36 -0500, S Viemeister
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Corning no longer makes it, but it's now being produced in France, to
>>> the same standards as the old, good, stuff.
>>
>> What's the brand name?
>>
> Da**ed if I can remember! I'll poke around and see if I made a note of it.

Aha! Found it.
<http://www.arc-international-cookware.com/en/products/pyroflam>

On Fri, 21 Dec 2012 08:25:36 -0700, Janet Bostwick wrote:

> World Kitchen, which acquired U.S. rights to the Pyrex trademark from
> Corning in 1998, is now suing the American Ceramic Society, the two
> researchers and a publicist over the trade journal article. The
> company has demanded a retraction, claiming that the scientists have
> launched a deliberate “campaign of disparagement” against U.S.-made
> glass cookware, including Pyrex, according to a complaint filed in
> federal court.
....
> Bradt and Martens are standing by their conclusions. So is the
> American Ceramic Society, which has refused to retract the paper.
>
> Independent ceramics experts who reviewed Bradt and Martens' paper for
> NBC News found it to be fundamentally sound, though they said more
> testing was needed to affirm the conclusions.

In previous statements by World Kitchen they beat around the bush with
a bunch of deceptive double-talk trying to give the impression that
soda lime glass was Pyrex's main glass even before they took over.
But when you read between the lines it's clear that World Kitchens
phased out the rest of the borosilicate glass after they bought the
Pyrex name.

And I'm sorry that the researchers are now having to pay to defend
themselves against this corporate bullying. But am glad thy are
standing their ground, and have other scientific experts available to
back them up. The glass is clearly inferior and downright dangerous.
I won't ever buy any glass, and I do still use what I have on rare
occasions. I have no idea how old it is or how to identify what it's
made out of.

-sw

On Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:33:17 -0800 (PST), Kalmia wrote:

> I wonder if anything similar has been reported about Corningware? I
> have a piece from the 60s and would like to think it's safe. (The
> old cornflower set....)

I don't think the cornflower designs really indicate age. They seem
to still be producing the same patterns, or patterns very similar. I
have the mixing bowls and a 12x12x3 roaster with handles, the clear
glass lid broke back in the 70's.

-sw

On Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:24:17 -0800, Cheri wrote:

> "Kalmia" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]..
>>
>>
>> I wonder if anything similar has been reported about Corningware? I have
>> a piece from the 60s and would like to think it's safe. (The old
>> cornflower set....)
>
> I have had Corningware shatter. If you Google, you'll find that it's not all
> that rare. Recently, a Corningware plate shattered and it shattered into
> really sharp shards.

When those plates break, they do make a hell of a mess. And sound,
too. The noise it made as it shattered was quite impressive.

-sw