Rust is not a food safe material so it should not be ingested. If you see rust on the surface of a utensil such as a cast-iron skillet or knife, remove all the rust before using it.
NO! That's very dangerous... that rust will get into the food, and you could poison your dinner guests. Just don't do it. But don't toss that pan out! Unless the damage is super bad, and can be rehabbed. The process is not difficult.
It's important to note that you shouldn't use your skillet while it still has rust on it. (This might seem obvious, but for people who haven't used cast iron cookware before, this can be an unfamiliar issue!)
Except for people with some very rare underlying conditions, rust is not toxic. About the worst that can happen is it causing physical damage to the esophagus or intestinal tract because of sharp edges.
Rust is really iron oxide, a rather benign substance in small quantities. You probably shouldn't eat a pound of it though.
And while a puncture wound from a nail is something to take seriously, you don't get tetanus from rust. Rather, bacteria that live in soil and feces cause tetanus. But the places where tetanus show up — rotting leaves, dirt, manure — are typically the same places where rusty objects turn up.
If you notice that your baking pans are developing rust, the best decision would be to replace them with new ones. "The risk far outweighs the benefit of trying to recover the baking pan," Le says. Le adds that you could, in theory, rely on a phosphoric acid-based cleaner to remove the rust from your pan.
Cooking with a cast iron pan that has a little bit of surface rust on it isn't likely to hurt you. If your pan is seriously rusty or has visible rust flakes, you shouldn't cook with it until the rust is removed and the pan is washed and re-seasoned.
TOP TIP: A combination of baking soda and vinegar can be effective for rust removal. The reaction between baking soda and vinegar produces a gentle fizzing action that helps lift rust from the pan's surface. Apply the mixture to the rusted areas and let it sit for a few minutes before scrubbing.
Regardless of the extent of the rust, there are options beyond throwing out rusted cast iron. For severe rust that covers most of the cookware surface, take the piece to a machine shop to have it sandblasted and restored to raw cast iron, then season the skillet immediately.
No! With that said, you don't want to cook on any surface or use any utensils that are currently rusty. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), ingesting rust is not safe. In fact, the USDA warns against cooking with rusty utensils and discarding all food stored in rusted cans.
Spray or wet pan with water and wipe clean with a cloth. Using a 1:1 ratio of water and vinegar, spray the mixture onto the stainless steel. Let the vinegar mixture sit for a few minutes to soak into the metal. Take a scouring pad and lightly scrub along the grain of the stainless steel to remove the rust.
When cooking on a rusted cast iron there's a chance that some of that material will end up in your food. However, the quantities are so small that they're almost negligible. Even though a rusted cast-iron pan doesn't necessarily present a health concern, it's still not recommended that you cook on it.
Because non stick coating by itself doesn't rust, if you spot rust on a non stick pan that means its coating has worn away to expose the metal beneath. If the coating has worn away to that degree, stop cooking with the pan ASAP and replace it.
But this is an important Woks of Life PSA: Carbon steel and cast iron woks can last a lifetime (or multiple lifetimes—we have woks that are decades old—they can be passed down to the next generation). They CAN be revived if rusty. If you have a carbon steel or cast iron wok that's rusted, don't throw it away!
When iron combines with oxygen, it forms iron oxide, or rust. Rust forms on the surface of iron and is soft, porous and crumbly. It flakes off as more and more rust forms and eventually the iron crumbles away. Rust is not a food safe material so it should not be ingested.
Washing it may help a bit, but rust is persistent. You wonder if the cast iron is safe to cook with this weekend for breakfast or if you should just toss it in the trash. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that rust isn't food safe, so it wouldn't be wise to ingest.
Unless it's been left outside, it's unlikely your rusty cookware will have the bacteria that causes tetanus. However, this doesn't mean it's 100 percent safe to use cookware with rust development. If you are particularly sensitive to rust, ingesting even small quantities can cause health complications.
Even though the health consequences of ingesting rust are minimal, it is probably still a good idea to either clean or get rid of that really rusted muffin tin or rusty pan. According to Consumer Reports, the way you clean and care for your cookware depends on the type of material it is made from.
Using rusty appliances, for instance, cookware in your kitchen, will not directly harm you. However, consistent consumption of rust, a compound of iron and oxygen, can be a health hazard. Rust is also associated with tetanus, a fatal nervous system infection.
Rusty metal can introduce iron into your system, which in small amounts is not harmful but may cause digestive discomfort, including nausea or stomach irritation. Over time, if the rust is consumed regularly, it can contribute to iron overload, particularly for those with conditions like hemochromatosis.
Old houses, cars or other discarded items left in nature for long enough will rust (if they're metal) and collect bacteria like Clostridium tetani, but the relationship between rust and tetanus-causing bacteria is purely correlative, not causative.
Ingesting rust can give you blood poisoning, which is dangerous.