I love Trader Joe’s for many of the same reasons this guy is singing about in this quirky, unauthorized commercial for TJ’s.
Hopefully the tune is now swimming around in your head, as it is in mine (misery loves company). But today my love for TJ’s was tossed aside and all I felt was anger. While opening my newly acquired bag of brussel sprouts, I noticed that the plastic bag was labeled 
[1]“Microwavable Bag –Ready in 3 Minutes”. In fairness to TJ’s, similar bags of sprouts and other veggies are sold at other stores, but the TJ’s label happened to be on this particular bag.
I’m angry because those simple words on their bag are misleading-they are telling people that it is OK to cook their food in a plastic bag. IT IS NOT OK. The truth is IT ISN’T KNOWN how much risk there is in low-level exposure to plasticizers or chemicals in plastic containers and bags.
We need to stop heating anything in plastic-microwavable plastic-all plastic. Heat from a microwave (oven and dishwasher too) causes substances used in manufacturing the plastic (plasticizers) [2] to possibly leak into our food. Beth Terry over at Fake Plastic Fish [3] has taken a remarkable vow to to live with as little unnecessary plastic as possible.
Beth says [3]: ” Stop heating plastic. Period. Do not put it in the microwave. Do not put it in the oven. Do not put it in the dishwasher, even on the top rack. Heat causes plastics to leach more readily. If you must eat food from plastic containers, please hand wash them with warm (not hot) water. Do not serve hot food in them ever. And, if you’re still buying bottled beverages (you’re not, right?), never store them in the hot trunk of a car.”
A few years back the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tested 10 plastics labeled “microwave safe”. All 10 products were found to release “toxic doses” of Bisphenol A (BPA) when heated in a microwave. The study found that the amounts detected were at levels that scientists have found cause neurological and developmental damage in laboratory animals.
Just because your food packaging says “microwave safe” it may not be. The term is not regulated by the government and has no certifiable meaning.
Take the safe route and avoid putting any plastic in the microwave. Stick to glass or ceramics.
BTW-I still love Trader Joe’s…….once I vent I don’t usually hold a grudge.
What do you think about microwaving in plastic?
For more information on plastic in the microwave: