Consumer Safety for Microwave Oven
Introduction
In the current dynamic world, ovens’ inventions have impacted peoples’ lives where its applications have become a quintessential part of our daily lives. Microwave ovens are used differently from cooking food in a few minutes to reviving freshness of cold meal. In the recent past, with an increase in safety consciousness, there have been several discussions around the usage of ovens in day-to-day activities (Baron, 2009, p. 4). The issues under concern in these discussions revolve around the impact on health as a result of continuous consumption of food cooked with microwave ovens and the safety of the user. The widespread use of microwave ovens can be attributed to its ability to save time and energy in cooking. In the world, about 70% of eateries and restaurants apply microwave ovens to cook their meals and warm the food. This paper seeks to explain the how safe a microwave oven should be to the user considering health and appliance safety.
Microwave ovens are built in a way that they cook food using radiations. It is essential for the user to understand the concept used in microwave so as to know the reasons behind using the right cookware. It is equally important for the user to understand that using any random plastic in cooking other than the recommended cookware, can result to melting of a plastic which would possibly contaminate the food with chemicals (Osepchuk, n.d., p. 11). It is highly recommended that one uses microwave safe cookware while cooking food using the microwave oven. The cookware applied while cooking should not have any cracks or scratches for such deficiency would also result to contamination of food with toxic chemicals such as Bisphenol. Manufactures of microwave ovens provides the user with manuals on how to use the ovens while heating or cooking the food. All these measures are meant to protect the user from any health effect as a result of using the microwave oven in cooking.
Microwave ovens should be safe to the user considering that most people are considering going green for environmental friendly use of energy. Selecting the right energy efficient appliance, require one to have an oven in good working condition as it is essential in energy-efficient cooking. Technologies in the manufacturing of microwave ovens are geared towards having safer and energy-efficient models. There are a number of considerations that a user has to consider while selecting a safer and efficient microwave oven (“Multimode oven applicators,” n.d., p. 8). This considerations involves the available energy source and the conventional heating mode. In understanding how safe a microwave oven should be, it is wise for the user to understand the structure of a microwave oven. The basic components of a microwave oven are;
- Power supply control to regulate amount of power fed to the magnetron and cooking time.
- The magnetron where electric energy is converted to oscillating magnetic.
- Waveguide which directs the microwaves generated to the cooking cavity.
- Stirrer commonly used to distribute the microwaves to allow more uniform heating of food.
- Turntable which rotates the food inside the cooking cavity allowing the food get exposed to uniform microwaves.
- The door and choke which allows the access of food in the cooking cavity.
Safety concerns on the usage off a microwave oven not only revolve around the radiation hazards but also around physical risks associated with the use of microwave oven. These physical risks might be associated with the defaults in the different models of microwave ovens. Different models from different manufacturers have various specifications that could have potential risks to the user. An example of a physicals risk is a physical burn that the user may experience. Such risks maybe prevented if the manufacturer could provide manuals to the users where the precautions are outlined.
European commission requires the manufacturer to comply with certain set guidelines to ensure the safety of the user (“Product safety regulation,” n.d., p. 6). Cooking appliances have to meet certain requirements that are set in certain jurisdictions where else some of these requirements are conventional. The first requirement by the European commission is energy label where new cooking appliances need to come with energy label which needs to show the energy efficiency of the model. For ovens rating on energy efficiency range from A++++ to G. Here the, user have an option of selecting which model to utilize considering the available source of energy.
The other requirement in Ecodesign, which involves the regulation to be met on model’s performance and the product information. Another requirement is fixation of standby and off-mode where the cooking oven is required to switch into low power after being in use for a reasonable amount of time. This provides safety to the user as one can avoid explosions due to overheating.
Conclusion
The household cooking appliance can pose a risk to the user both physical and health risks. There is need for the user to follow the manuals provided for safety measures where precautions are outlined. The manufacturers on their part, have to meet the set regulations to put into considerations the safety of the user while developing different models. Microwave ovens are structured with different components which the user needs to understand basic functions to avoid any possible safety issues.
References
Baron, D. (2009). Microwave oven safety. Development of Packaging and Products for Use in Microwave Ovens, 290-301. https://doi.org/10.1533/9781845696573.3.290
Multimode oven applicators. (n.d.). Industrial Microwave Heating, 130-150. https://doi.org/10.1049/pbpo004e_ch6
Osepchuk, J. (n.d.). Microwave engineering problems in the microwave oven. MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest. https://doi.org/10.1109/mwsym.1976.1123742
Product safety regulation. (n.d.). EU Consumer Law and Policy, 254-282. https://doi.org/10.4337/9780857936981.00012