Safe dishes (for kids and/or the whole family)

[Anonymous]

So I started out looking for dishes made in the USA and it proved virtually impossible. I must admit I'm not the most up to date on plastic vs silicon vs stainless steel etc etc. I'd appreciate recommendations for non-toxic dish options - both those that are baby/kid friendly and those for general family use once the kids are a bit older. I have to start making baby food for #2 and I'm not sure what to serve it out of and it has somehow prompted me to make a kitchen overhaul. Any go to websites with ideas would be great, too. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Porcelain/stonewear is fine. Fiestaware is pretty rugged and inexpensive, but there are lots of brands.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP, but if you need something unbreakable/babyproof for the short term, I don't think there's anything wrong with melamine (just don't micro anything in it)...if you want to avoid the plastic trap, you could look into enamelware (enamel coated metal dishes--like for camping) probably still can't micro it, but it is unbreakable and should last past the baby stage.

[Anonymous]

We use Pottery Barn's caterer's dinnerware. Plain white, but nice quality.

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/caterers-12-piece-dinnerware-set/?pkey=cdinnerware-white

[Anonymous]

I bought Corelle for the kids. The dishes are chip resistant (none of ours have broken in 3 years), made in the USA and made of glass. I also like how space efficient they are. They're great.

[Anonymous]

PP again, I also bought Duralex glasses. None have broken despite lots of spills and drops. For travel & outings, I use stainless steel.

[Anonymous]

Fiestaware.


We have some stainless steel from the camping department

We have the little glass bowls that have kids. and is perfect snack size.

[Anonymous]

NP here -- Fiestaware is made in the United States, for the record -- in West Virginia. That's what we use and our kids eat on it as well.

[Anonymous]

Corelle here too. It was important to us that it was kid durable and made in the USA.

Our previous set was pfaltzgraff, but that's hard to find now.

[Anonymous]

Everything by Anchor Hocking is US-made. Most of it is glass though, but it's microwave and oven safe.

http://www.anchorhocking.com/prod_17_dinnerware.html

[Anonymous]

Corelle dinnerware is mostly made in the U.S. Other Corelle products (glassware, mugs, etc.) is made in China.

[Anonymous]

Yikes this question makes me cringe a little as I'm sure I've been unintentionally poisoning everyone in my family as I have a whole shelf of those ziploc gladware plastic boxes that I use to store food in the fridge. Even freezer.

Does anyone have a good reference/cheat sheet they can share about what dishes/containers are safe to use for various tasks--storage in fridge, freezer, and microwaving?

I'm sure I'll get flamed for not knowing this, but I don't.

Currently my 2 year old is drinking out of a playtex sippy cup. He ate lunch off of an OXO Tot plate with a fork of the same brand. I think our dishes came from Crate and Barrel 5 years ago and I routinely heat up stuff for my child using one of those plates/bowls in the microwave.

I feel like I will never catch up and have all of the safety things correct.

[Anonymous]

Plastic doesn't heat well. It can easily allow toxins to leach into the food. I personally don't mind plastic for storage or room temperature use. But I heat things up in glass.

Most bigger brand name porcelain uses lead and cadmium free glazes. California required labeling in the late 90s and most are lead-free now everywhere. Be more concerned/careful with no-name brands.

[Anonymous]

16:08: Generally, you can't go wrong with glass. Buy a big Pyrex set at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and call it a day! Like the PP, we're comfortable storing cold food in plastic, so we also use a Rubbermaid set in the fridge, for cold lunches, etc. But we have switched everyone to stainless steel waterbottles.

[Anonymous]

OP -- same thing happened to me when I was forced to make baby food and buy bottles. I started questioning what I was serving my baby her food in.

HF Coors is American made, lead-free (MANY name brands have lead! you would be surprised), cadium-free, meet California Prop 65. The dinnerware is a bit heavy, but it's very sturdy, as it's used in restaurants.

Corelle and Crate and Barrell dishware contains lead. I have called and talked to their customer service dept. But they are FDA approved, as the US govt DOES allow some lead in dinnerware.

Beware of highly colored, foreign-made dinnerware, esp from countries like Mexico and China.

This is what I do -- all cookware is stainless steel made in the USA (altho I have heard cast iron is the best), NO non-stick cookware, as the coating contains harmful chemicals. We don't use any plastic to eat out of -- never microwave plastic. We use glass to drink out of (American made). Again, foreign made glass can have lead.

I store baby food in glass containers (Innobaby) and breastmilk in glass bottles (that I can freeze -- Evenflo bottles).

I serve my babyfood in stainless steel bowls -- ThinkBaby makes them and you can get them on Amazon. Also, make sure the stainless steel is food grade too. I also use small glass custard dishes to serve baby food.

I have tried to rid plastic from my life b/c it's toxic, it contributes to our landfills and you can't heat food in it.

I use stainless steel sippy cups and every now and then I use a plastic ThinkBaby sippy cup. If you use plastic make sure it's #5.

#2, #4, and #5 plastics are the safest. Don't ever use #7 -- it contains BPA.