CHARLOTTE, NC, UNITED STATES, November 19, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- PFAS has become one of the most loaded words in the kitchen. In a matter of years, a once-obscure scientific term has turned into a catch-all for consumer anxiety, political debate, and sweeping regulatory proposals. But as with most heated conversations, the nuances are getting lost — and too often, fear is filling the gaps where facts should be. Amir Alon, Executive Chairman of SMB Group and a mechanical engineer who has spent decades studying how cookware materials perform in real kitchens, breaks it down:

Let’s start with what PFAS actually are. PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — refer to a massive family of roughly 15,000 man-made chemicals. They’re used everywhere: in textiles, electronics, medical devices, automotive components, and, yes, in many nonstick coatings. They became ubiquitous because they work. PFAS compounds resist heat, repel water and oil, and deliver durability that other materials struggled to match.

That ubiquity is also why the discussion has become so complex. PFAS are present in countless consumer products, and in most cases, the potential risk comes from long-term ingestion, not contact. In traditional nonstick cookware made with PTFE — the material many people mistakenly refer to simply as “Teflon” — the amount of PFAS present is measured in parts per billion. Even in scratched or overheated pans, the exposure levels are considered negligible from a health perspective.

So where did the fear come from? Not from cookware. The original controversy stemmed from a major manufacturing incident — a chemical leak into groundwater near a PTFE production facility in the U.S. That event caused real harm to a local community, and understandably, it sparked national concern. But the issue was the industrial contamination, not the product itself.

In Europe, the concern is less about human health and more about environmental persistence. PFAS are sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they break down extremely slowly, and regulators have explored sweeping bans to limit their environmental presence. Yet even there, the discussion is evolving: one PTFE manufacturer calculated that the entire annual PFAS contribution from cookware sold across the EU is less than two kilograms — a minuscule amount. For now, European legislation targeting cookware specifically is on hold while further study is underway.

A Different Path Forward

At Swiss Diamond, we approach this issue from a unique vantage point. Before we were a cookware brand, we were a Swiss coating R&D center serving multiple high-precision industries — food-processing machinery, chemical manufacturing, watches, and more. That background has given us a half-century of expertise in engineering coatings that must perform under intense, real-world conditions.

We’ve been manufacturing cookware for more than 35 years, and our latest innovation — a Dual Ceramic coating — is the result of nearly seven years of research. When sol-gel ceramic coatings first entered the market about two decades ago, they were presented as the natural successor to PTFE. But early versions didn’t deliver the durability or release performance consumers expected. For a while, it looked like a temporary marketing trend.

Then the regulatory landscape shifted. We believed that if ceramic coatings were going to be a serious solution, they needed real engineering behind them — not just branding. After years of formulation work, testing, and iteration, our team developed a PFAS-free ceramic coating that surprised even us with its nonstick release and longevity. In performance testing, it outperformed both earlier ceramic coatings and traditional PTFE-based formulas.

How Consumers Can Cut Through the Noise

The cookware market has become crowded with influencer-driven brands that outsource production, spend heavily on marketing, and have minimal in-house technical expertise. When evaluating PFAS-free cookware — or any nonstick product — the most important thing consumers can look for is the depth of manufacturing and scientific knowledge behind the brand.

Does the brand develop its own coatings? Do they have engineering capabilities, R&D staff, and long-term manufacturing partners? Are they innovating, or simply private-labeling a commodity product with a strong social media presence?

A truly trustworthy PFAS-free pan comes from a company with the science and experience to create and validate the technology — not just promote it.

What the Future of Nonstick Looks Like

Regulations in the U.S. are far from unified. Minnesota has enacted a full ban on PFAS-containing cookware, while California vetoed its proposed ban and is continuing study before determining next steps. Other states fall somewhere in between, creating a patchwork landscape that’s difficult for both consumers and manufacturers to navigate.

My personal view is that regulators will eventually realize that “banning PFAS” as a whole category is not feasible; the family of chemicals is simply too broad, and many of them are essential in fields far beyond cookware. PTFE will likely remain in use unless — and this is the important part — better alternatives become widely available.

At Swiss Diamond, we’ve decided not to wait for that moment. We are phasing out our PTFE-based coatings and investing fully in our Dual Ceramic technology because we believe that superior performance should go hand-in-hand with reduced environmental impact. If nonstick cookware is going to evolve, it should evolve toward materials that perform exceptionally well and align with future regulatory expectations.

PFAS is a complicated topic, and the debate is far from over. But clarity matters — and innovation matters even more. When science leads, kitchen performance doesn’t have to be sacrificed. In fact, it gets better.

Emily Cappiello
The Gourmet Insider
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