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I have a bag of Beyond Meat crumbles. Before reading the bag, I microwaved the crumbles in a bowl until they were thoroughly heated.

...Then I noticed that the bag says "DO NOT MICROWAVE". Is there a health concern with microwaving the product, or are the directions intended to ensure that the product is as enjoyable as it can be?

Tashus
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    Did you microwave the crumbles by themselves, or the bag as well? Did anything unusual happen? – Phil Jun 16 '20 at 03:26
  • @Phil Crumbles in a bowl with a bit of spaghetti sauce. We ended up reheating them in a skillet according to the instructions. – Tashus Jun 16 '20 at 05:47
  • It's also quite likely that the group of likely people to want Beyond Meat could include many people not liking microwaves or even thinking they are harmful. By positioning the product as one "not made for microwave" you reinforce this customer base. A win for the marketing Department. And pragmatically, the company knows that people who microwaves stuff, will anyway. – Jeffrey Jun 17 '20 at 14:00
  • @jeffrey I would call that a realistic amount of cynicism. I have also tried to microwave similar products that disintegrated into mush, so I buy the answers below about texture changes. – Tashus Jun 17 '20 at 15:20

3 Answers3

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There are no health concerns with microwaving food. Microwaves excite water molecules to heat food, they don't change food or make it dangerous. When a product says do not microwave it means one of 3 things:

  1. The packaging is not meant to be microwaved: heating some types of packaging can cause bad tastes or smells in food, or cause the packaging to release unhealthy chemicals. Putting the food in a microwave safe dish solves this problem
  2. Microwave heating causes undesirable texture changes in the food. Microwaving can sometimes cause a rubbery texture, or make it soggy
  3. As @fraxinus rightly points out some foods can explode in the microwave, especially food with a shell or airtight covering of some sort like eggs and potatoes. Heat causes pressure to build until the shell or covering fails, causing a 'rapid unscheduled disassembly' as they say in the aerospace industry when something blows up

Number 2 is the most likely reason the package said do not microwave.

GranBurguesa
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GdD
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    ... and 3. Some foods explode when microwaved. Eggs are notorious example, but the problem is not limited to them. Sometimes the explosion is desired (e.g. popcorn), but in general case is not. – fraxinus Jun 16 '20 at 11:11
  • Good point, and added @fraxinus – GdD Jun 16 '20 at 11:44
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    Thank you. My concern was internal temperature etc. I understand that microwaves aren't "scary radiation", but that is always a relevant point to remind people of. – Tashus Jun 16 '20 at 15:08
  • @Tashus, you did ask about health concerns, but in any case I try to cover many angles when answering a question. How was the taste/texture after being microwaved by the way? – GdD Jun 16 '20 at 15:12
  • @GdD Yes, my health concerns were with different cooking methods more easily reaching minimum internal temperatures. I do appreciate the reminder that microwave heating is not fundamentally different in terms of effects on food. They tasted just fine, although I think they would have had a better texture had we skipped the microwave. Cheers! – Tashus Jun 16 '20 at 15:17
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    From the context, I'd say that Number 1 is also a concern, since it said this *on the bag*. Some food packaging is designed to be microwaved in the bag, so this warning may be placed on items where it isn't. The OP said they heated it in a bowl, though, so it should be okay. – Darrel Hoffman Jun 16 '20 at 16:06
  • Not sure if you were inclucing it under point 3, but you also have the possible effect of grapes causing "heat spots" causing plasma and sparking. – Dragonel Jun 16 '20 at 16:24
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    I think #1 is by far the most likely: the packaging is not microwave safe. – Joe M Jun 16 '20 at 17:24
  • @Dragonel root vegetables too. I well remember the first time I microwaved a plate of chopped cooked carrots and parsnips for my baby – Alex M Jun 16 '20 at 18:19
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    I'm a bit disappointed that your second point did not say that it might change the texture *beyond* recognition :-) – JohnEye Jun 16 '20 at 22:18
  • @JohnEye, I have a reputation to maintain. – GdD Jun 17 '20 at 07:08
  • I think there's also a 1/3 hybrid: the packaging might be microwave-unsafe for reasons of physics rather than taste/chemistry, potentially causing explosions or other detrimental phenomena. – Angew is no longer proud of SO Jun 17 '20 at 08:46
  • Just as a nit pick, "rapid unscheduled disassembly" predates SpaceX [link](https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/10022/who-coined-the-phrase-rapid-unscheduled-disassembly) – Charlie Bamford Jun 17 '20 at 16:44
  • Duly noted and edited @CharlesBamford – GdD Jun 17 '20 at 16:52
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    #4: The food may produce plasma, sparks, or ignite, possibly [damaging](https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/02/these-scientists-broke-12-microwaves-to-learn-how-grapes-create-plasmas/) the microwave – Robert K. Bell Jun 18 '20 at 01:42
  • Couldn't there be another reason: the food is unsafe to eat if raw or not properly cooked, and microwaving it will not "properly" cook it? – a3nm Jun 18 '20 at 14:52
  • No @a3nm, if that was the case it would explicitly say the food must be cooked. Microwaving will certainly cook it, just not necessarily in the way you want. – GdD Jun 18 '20 at 14:56
  • Oh OK -- I wasn't aware that microwaves could "cook" any food in that sense. – a3nm Jun 19 '20 at 18:43
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On the Beyond Meat website there's no mention either way of microwaving (other than the section that reproduces the packaging you've already seen), however searching their tweets reveals that they concede it's possible, though undesirable, to microwave the stuff:

https://twitter.com/BeyondMeat/status/615620476862230528

while you can microwave the #BeastBurger, we always recommend grilling for the best taste, texture and experience!

https://twitter.com/BeyondMeat/status/424243984341684224

most of our fans eat them [Beyond Chicken Strips] out of the box, we recommend pan frying them, but they are totally microwave safe!

AakashM
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Health related concerns are off-topic here, but pretty much anything that can be cooked on a stove can be heated in the microwave, whether the food is then palatable is another issue. There are a few things that are worth considering:

  • Microwaving food cooks differently to on a stove in that the water in the food is heated by the microwaves, this can lead to unpleasant textures in some foods
  • Similarly, microwaving some items has a burning risk if they are a dry food like bread - the inside browns before the outside (reverse toast anyone?) and could potentially catch fire without warning
  • Cooking on a stove usually means adding some other ingredients such as oil or water to help heat it, which alters the taste and can enhance flavour; you might not get this with food heated directly in the microwave.
bob1
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    The [help center](https://cooking.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic) says food safety is on topic. – user2357112 Jun 16 '20 at 09:43
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    @user2357112supportsMonica "Is this food considered safe according to food safety regulations" is on topic. "Is this healthy/good for me" is not, since healthy is not well defined and depends on individual factors. – user141592 Jun 16 '20 at 09:48
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    This seems much more like an "is this safe" question than a nutritional advice question to me. Maybe "health concern" specifically refers to the second category to you, but that's not universal. – user2357112 Jun 16 '20 at 09:59
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    @user2357112supportsMonica our site doesn't work with a universal/commonly held understanding of the term "food safety" mostly because the most common one leads to unanswerable questions. The food safety questions allowed in the help center are tightly restricted to a quasi-legal definition: we just tell you what are the food safety rules (as published by governmental agencies such as the FDA in the US) that apply to a given case. This is usually about how long food can be stored in a given environment. Technically, this also covers toxins that contaminate the food, so I think your... – rumtscho Jun 16 '20 at 11:06
  • ... question is on topic. But there are two caveats: 1) since this kind of thing is not explicitly mentioned in the generic food safety regulations I know, it is unlikely anybody will be able to give an answer about that, and 2) the manufacturer can have health concerns. So if heating produces a substance which is considered "unhealthy" (such as a carcinogen) but is not seen as "unsafe" under food regulations, we have to tell you that the food is safe, without discussing that the manufacturer considers it unhealthy. That is admittedly a somewhat contrived scenario, since the main problem is... – rumtscho Jun 16 '20 at 11:09
  • ... that if this is the case, none of us has a good way to recognize that, or to know which substance might be meant. Also, we have no good way of excluding that this might be the case. So while I think your question is on-topic, I don't believe that we can know the answer - and if we did, site rules might prevent us from giving it. – rumtscho Jun 16 '20 at 11:12
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    By "health concerns" I was wondering about things like internal temperature, etc. So "is this safe". – Tashus Jun 16 '20 at 14:38