Why should I not use a chipped ceramic bowl or mug?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “how to reglaze a coffee mug“
Why should I not use a chipped ceramic bowl or mug?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “how to reglaze a coffee mug“
The chipped area is a good place for dirt and germs to hide, and secondly the bowl or mug could fall apart at any time, possibly cutting you or scalding you with hot food or drink.
Ceramic dishes are baked after being coated with food grade glaze. That keeps food and germs from soaking into the disk. If the ceramic dish is cracked or broken, the glaze no longer protects you. It’s a bit like asking why a chipped or cracked swimming pool doesn’t hold water except, depending upon the germs, the crack/leak could be deadly.
There is no reason not to keep using your mug. A home is not a restaurant. Most stoneware and porcelain clay is not very porous after firing. People have been drinking from chipped mugs or cups for thousands of years. Our ancestors ate, prepared and stored food in porous, unglazed, earthenware pots for millennia. The oldest pottery used for food was 20,000 years ago in China. That pottery was low fired and porous. Elementary hygiene including washing food ware in hot, soapy water should be sufficient. A tea cup or coffee mug only needs hot water, not soap. Then it needs to be dried. Bacteria needs moisture. There is no evidence that people are getting sick from chipped mugs. People get sick from cross-contamination from meat and surfaces that are not cleaned properly. The danger is poor food hygiene practice in preparation.
Glazes serve two basic functions. They produce smooth surfaces, and they add an aesthetic quality to the pottery. Glazes can never be considered sealants. If the clay body is absorbent, liquids or solids can penetrate slight imperfections in the glaze layer. Any bacteria will go where water goes. In other words having no visible cracks is not guarantee of no bacteria or molds. They are everywhere. And mostly harmless. If anything, modern excessive hygiene is creating an increase in autoimmune disease and allergies. The idea that chipped pottery is somehow protected or that glazes are necessary for hygiene is just incorrect.
All traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean or other pottery with glazes that are designed to craze, have cracks all over the pot. The cracks are emphasized by usage over the years and often by soaking the pot in strong tea. It is part of the slow final creation of the artist’s aesthetic. All low fire pottery cups and mugs are porous. There is just no evidence of families getting sick from home use of pottery that has chips of cracks in the glaze or from earthenware. Japanese traditional tea ceremony ware often has cracks, chips and repairs on them. No one gets sick from tea ceremonies. The pottery is never sterilized. It is only cleaned with boiling water. These pots are used for generations and repaired if they break.
The much bigger danger is using antibacterial soaps. Antibiotic resistance,which by itself is a normal phenomenon of bacterial evolution, is a growing worldwide problem because of misuse and overuse of antibiotics. Clay with iron in it (all naturally colored clay), is in fact, a potent killer of bacteria. Mineralogical variables that control the antibacterial effectiveness of a natural clay deposit
This is a little like the fad (that was wrong) for getting rid of wooden cutting boards or wooden spoons. It turns out that bacteria is more likely to thrive in the micro cuts on plastic cutting boards. Wood tends to kill bacteria as it dries. Studies indicate that use of plastic cutting boards in home kitchens is hazardous, whereas use of wooden cutting boards is not. In fact, the stainless steel and plastic surfaces in your kitchen are much more likely to harbor bacteria and be a danger.
“three minutes after contaminating a board that 99.9 percent of the bacteria on wooden boards had died, while none of the bacteria died on plastic. Bacterial numbers actually increased on plastic cutting boards held overnight at room temperature, but the scientists could not recover any bacteria from wooden boards treated the same way.”
This study) revealed that those using wooden cutting boards in their home kitchens were less than half as likely as average to contract salmonellosis (odds ratio 0.42, 95% confidence interval 0.22-0.81), those using synthetic ( plastic or glass ) cutting boards were about twice as likely as average to contract salmonellosis (O.R. 1.99, C.I. 1.03-3.85); and the effect of cleaning the board regularly after preparing meat on it was not statistically significant (O.R. 1.20, C.I. 0.54-2.68).
Cutting boards in Salmonella cross-contamination.
I tend to disagree with the previous answer.
The previous poster is pretty well informed and most commercial products will be fine if they are chipped or cracked.
The problem is with the range of vitrification in different clays. So, if something is a handmade craft, you don’t actually know the chemical make-up of the clay. You don’t know if the naked clay alone is impervious to water. (Only the potter knows this and sometimes they don’t even know because they are inexperienced or ignorant.) Bacteria is a bigger threat than chemical leaching. And, neither thing is especially severe in its negative impact. But, why take the risk? If the crack or chip is inside your dish where there will be warm food or liquids touching it, I would retire that dish and get another. If the chip is somewhere on the top or outside of the dish, keep using it. Just don’t let it sit in the sink with food on it.
It depends on the clay. If it’s earthenware, that’s porous—so it can soak up whatever you’re eating. Not very sanitary. If it’s stoneware or porcelain, it’s vitreous, or fully fused—not porous. It won’t absorb anything, so it’s safe to eat out of if chipped.
Because bacteria can grow in the chip, or the sharp edge could cut you.
That is of course, if the chip is significant enough for it to trap food particles or sharp enough to cut you. If it’s just a little one, I wouldn’t worry about it, personally.
The only reason I could think of is if the location of the sharp edges of the chip could cause harm. Other than that, if you don’t mind, I won’t complain either.
Original question: Why should I not use a chipped ceramic bowl or mug?
Because it may appear that the chipped bowl may have had the cup fall in the food in the bowl. And that would be unpleasant to eat.
Victor Allen’s
A chipped dish still works . It can hold a full plate and still keep serving a purpose. It may not be perfect but is too good to throw out. It may cut you if you’re not careful, but with a little care you can learn how to avoid it.