Almost every “healthy” recipe calls for a cooking spray to coat the pan. But the aerosol method of application may make you suspicious of its additives, such as dimethyl silicone, an anti-foaming agent.
If you aren’t convinced that cooking sprays are the best choice, making a homemade, healthy cooking spray alternative using olive oil and a pump bottle guarantees a safe spritz.
How Do Cooking Sprays Work?
Cooking sprays create a thin layer of oil and lecithin so food doesn’t stick to the pan or pot when you’re sautéing it. They also make for quick greasing of a baking pan, so muffins, cupcakes, or cookies slide right out.
While a pat of butter or a tablespoon of oil does the same job, it adds more fat and calories than you might want in your dish. In addition, butter is high in saturated fat — the kind that can increase your risk of heart disease in large amounts.
Cooking sprays, on the other hand, contain a form of vegetable oil, such as corn, soy, canola, or olive oil, along with soy lecithin, which emulsifies the product. To enable the spray to work and to prevent foaming or clogging, manufacturers usually include a propellant agent, silicone, and a bit of alcohol.
The Safety Concerns of Cooking Sprays
Cooking sprays could pose a danger if you use or store the spray near open flames — such as on a lit grill or a pan heating over a gas burner. They may contain highly flammable chemicals known as hydrocarbon propellants that include propane, butane, and isobutane.
While some propellants are highly flammable, the sprays only contain a tiny amount that often dissipates while you’re spraying it onto a surface. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved nonstick cooking sprays as safe to consume.
To be safe, spray the cooking surface while it’s cool and at a safe distance from heat. Any sprays that do contain flammable hydrocarbons should state this on the label. For the safest choices, look for those that don’t.
Pump Healthy Oils Yourself to Reduce Additives
A reusable pump or sprayer eliminates waste from used aerosol cans, keeping the environment healthier, and it ensures that you control the ingredients. Purchase these pumps at cooking supply stores and fill with an oil of your choosing.
Instead of artificial chemicals creating the pressure to release the oil, you press a button that pumps the oil into a cylinder. Increased internal pressure in the cylinder releases the oil in small spritzes onto your pan or baking dish.
You can then limit the amount of oil used and still have all the convenience of a spray, without any additives.
Choose Healthy Oils When Self-Pumping Cooking Spray
Whether you fill a reusable pump or opt for commercial sprays, choose olive oil or avocado oil. Olive oil is high in monounsaturated fats, which are linked to healthier cholesterol ratios.
If you fill your own pump, go one step further and choose virgin or extra-virgin olive oil, which contain more antioxidants called polyphenols than refined olive oil. The processing of refined olive oil causes the loss of more polyphenols. These compounds may fight inflammation in the body, but no definitive studies have shown that extra-virgin olive oil is more effective than refined olive oil for preventing heart disease, cancer, or other health problems.
If you plan to do high-heat cooking, such as a stir-fry, grapeseed oil is another heart-healthy option with a high smoke point.
Canola oil is another potentially heart-healthy option, but it is not without controversy. Some health experts point to it as a highly processed option that might leave traces of a harmful residue called hexane in the oil. However, using limited canola oil for sautéing or in a salad dressing can be a healthy cooking oil option.
The Takeaway
Cooking sprays are convenient for reducing fat and calorie content in meals, but they contain additives that may present health concerns.
Consider making your own cooking spray using a pump bottle and your preferred healthy oil, such as extra-virgin olive oil, for better control over ingredients.
Be cautious of the flammable nature of aerosol cooking sprays. Keep them away from open flames or hot surfaces to avoid any potential hazards.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
Q: Are Non-Stick Cooking Sprays Healthy? Do They Add Anything to Food I Need to Worry About? Tufts University. September 17, 2019.
Roxana Ehsani, RD, is a Miami-based licensed dietitian-nutritionist, board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, and media spokesperson, consultant, and content creator for food and nutrition brands. She is an adjunct instructor for sports nutrition at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
Ehsani appears as a food and nutrition expert for television stations across the nation and in national publications, including Runner's World, Women's Health, Glamour, and more, and is a contributing writer for EatingWell. She has a strong background in sports nutrition and has worked with professional, Olympic, collegiate, and high school teams and individual athletes, whom she sees through her private practice.
Adam is a freelance writer and editor based in Sussex, England. He loves creating content that helps people and animals feel better. His credits include Medical News Today, Greatist, ZOE, MyLifeforce, and Rover, and he also spent a stint as senior updates editor for Screen Rant.
As a hearing aid user and hearing loss advocate, Adam greatly values content that illuminates invisible disabilities. (He's also a music producer and loves the opportunity to explore the junction at which hearing loss and music collide head-on.)
In his spare time, Adam enjoys running along Worthing seafront, hanging out with his rescue dog, Maggie, and performing loop artistry for disgruntled-looking rooms of 10 people or less.
