If You Are Considering Purchasing HexClad Cookware, Read This First

If you are searching for eco-friendly cookware, does the Chef Gordon Ramsay-backed HexClad brand have a place in your home? For those rightfully wary of forever chemicals like PFAS and the environmental destruction they cause, many wonder if the HexClad brand of cookware is non-toxic and safe to use.

If you are hoping to discover if the HexClad series of pots, pans, and other cookware accessories are indeed non-toxic and which chemicals are used in their formation (including a Teflon coating) keep reading to learn all about the brand and its cookware components.

HexClad once included non-toxic claims in its marketing. According to the HexClad website, Gordon Ramsay endorses the brand for its high-quality cookware that he uses on his show, Next Level Chef, and in his own home.

But despite the brand's marketing claims about the non-toxic nature of its cookware, other experts and legal opponents in California disagree.

Sustainability expert Leigh Matthews writes in LeafScore that HexClad utilizes polytetrafluoroethylene (also known as PTFE) in its cookware. "No matter how you soup it up, PTFE is bad for people, planet, and pets," she writes.

As non-toxic product resource Mamavation notes, HexClad's non-toxic claims included being free from forever chemicals despite using PTFE. This resulted in a class action lawsuit taken to the California federal court, per Top Class Actions, and the lawsuit included allegations of greenwashing by the company.

There no longer appear to be any claims regarding the product's non-toxic nature on the HexClad about page or frequently asked questions page.

Because HexClad includes PTFE in its products, HexClad cookware does not appear to be safe to use at home or otherwise.

PTFE notoriously holds up poorly at high temperatures, breaking down and leaching toxic fumes that can cause illness.This may be extra dangerous for those with existing respiratory issues and could lead to the poisoning and death of birds.

One concerned Redditor found a mysterious black substance upon multiple wipes of a HexClad pan, while another shared that "These pans literally got the lowest rating of all time from America’s Test Kitchen."

HexClad uses PTFE in its cookware, and no matter how many badass influencers and celebrity chef partnerships the HexClad brand procures, it doesn't change the fact that it uses forever chemicals in its products.

According to the experts at the International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec), the burning of PTFE at high heat creates PFAS. PTFE is known as a "fluorinated polymer" and a subgroup of PFAS, according to ChemSec, and composes half of the PFAS-containing products on the market.

“There are no regulations in place that require chemical producers to disclose PTFE production,” according to the resource, furthering concerns about the safety and stability of the chemical composition of HexClad's products.

The short answer: yes, HexClad uses Teflon in their products. The trade name for the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTE) chemical that HexClad uses to create the non-stick coating in their cookware is more commonly known as Teflon, according to Illuminate Labs.

Teflon, per the source, poses significant toxicity concerns. Those worries by consumers and researchers are not unfounded, as they appear to be backed by a significant amount of scientific research.