Buying guide · Australia
The best non-toxic cookware in Australia, by what makers disclose
Uncoated wins. Every top-scoring pan sold in Australia is bare stainless steel or bare iron, so there is no coating recipe to keep secret.
Uncoated 18/10 or 304 stainless steel. Four sets sold in Australia tie at 85/100: Ovela 9-piece, Essteele Per Vita, Essteele Per Amore and Baccarat iconiX. If you want cast iron, Lodge (78) and Solidteknics (72) are the honest picks.
It is a disclosure score out of 100, not a safety rating: what it is made of, who tested it, where it is made, whether the claim matches the evidence. A product can score 20 and be perfectly fine to cook in. What a low score means is that nobody outside the company can check. The rubric is here.
Our top picks
Ovela 9 Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set (Kogan)304 stainless, glass lids. Best material in our Australian table.85/100See the full entry →
Essteele Per Vita 5 Piece Set (Myer)18/10 stainless, made in Italy, copper sealed in the base.85/100See the full entry →
Baccarat iconiX 4 Piece Stainless Steel Set18/10 stainless with cast stainless handles.85/100See the full entry →
Every uncoated pan we rate highly in Australia
| Product | Score /100 | What touches the food | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 | 60/60 | Best material | |
| 85 | 60/60 | Buy it | |
| 85 | 60/60 | Buy it | |
| 85 | 60/60 | Buy it | |
| 78 | 42/60 | Buy it | |
| 77 | 60/60 | Fine | |
| 72 | 47/60 | Buy it |
- 85/100
- 85/100
- No maker photo85/100Essteele Per Amore 4 Piece Clad Set (Myer) · AU
Full multi-clad: 18/10 brushed stainless interior, aluminium core, stainless exterior
The full entry → - 85/100
- 78/100
- 77/100
- No maker photo72/100
GreenPan’s Australian Valencia Pro scores 62, the best coated pan in our Australian table. SCANPAN Classic and Circulon A1 both score 42: Scanpan says its coating contains PTFE, and Circulon’s own filing lists PTFE, FEP and PFA. What that means for you.
The coated pans, for comparison
| Product | Score /100 | What touches the food | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | 34/60 | Buy it | |
| 42 | 14/60 | Read the caveats | |
| 42 | 14/60 | Read the caveats |
- No maker photo62/100GreenPan Valencia Pro Frypan 20cm (Myer) · AU
Thermolon ceramic sol-gel on hard-anodised aluminium
The full entry → - No maker photo42/100Scanpan Classic Induction Frypan 20cm (Myer / David Jones) · AU
“Stratanium” coating, which Scanpan states contains PTFE
The full entry → - No maker photo42/100Circulon ScratchDefense A1 Frypan 25.4cm (Myer) · AU
Three-layer “ScratchDefense” coating — the maker’s own filing lists PTFE, FEP and PFA
The full entry →
Every Australian pan we score is on the Australian cookware page.
Questions people ask
What is the most non-toxic cookware in Australia?
On what makers disclose, uncoated stainless steel. Ovela 9-piece, Essteele Per Vita, Essteele Per Amore and Baccarat iconiX all score 85/100 in our Australian table. Bare cast iron (Lodge, 78) and bare iron (Solidteknics, 72) come next.
Is stainless steel cookware non-toxic?
It has no coating, so there is nothing to break down and no secret recipe. It does release small amounts of nickel and chromium, mostly into acidic food and mostly when new. One study measured the leached nickel fraction falling from 5.10% on the first cook to 0.48% by the sixth.
Does Australia regulate PFAS in cookware?
Not specifically. Australia has no cookware disclosure law like California’s AB 1200, which makes makers list intentionally added chemicals. The Food Standards Code only sets a general rule that food-contact materials must not cause harm. That is why we score what makers choose to publish.
Is non-stick cookware safe in Australia?
PTFE is inert at normal cooking temperatures; the documented risk is overheating an empty pan. If you want to avoid PFAS entirely, pick uncoated stainless or cast iron. Is Teflon safe? has the detail.
Do you lab-test these pans?
No. Every score is built from what the manufacturer publishes, and every claim is linked to its source.
Related
Sources
- Ovela 9 Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set (Kogan) — maker or retailer page. www.kogan.com
- Essteele Per Vita 5 Piece Set (Myer) — maker or retailer page. www.essteele.com.au
- Essteele Per Amore 4 Piece Clad Set (Myer) — maker or retailer page. web.archive.org
- Baccarat iconiX 4 Piece Stainless Steel Set — maker or retailer page. www.baccarat.com.au
- Lodge Classic Cast Iron Skillet 26cm — maker or retailer page. www.minimax.com.au
- Baccarat iD3 Stainless Frypan 30cm — maker or retailer page. www.baccarat.com.au
- Solidteknics AUS-ION 30cm Frypan — maker or retailer page. www.solidteknics.com
- GreenPan Valencia Pro Frypan 20cm (Myer) — maker or retailer page. greenpan.com.au
- Scanpan Classic Induction Frypan 20cm (Myer / David Jones) — maker or retailer page. scanpan.com.au
- Circulon ScratchDefense A1 Frypan 25.4cm (Myer) — maker or retailer page. www.circulon.com.au
- Kamerud, Hobbie and Anderson (2013), stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into foods during cooking, J Agric Food Chem. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, Standard 1.1.1. www.legislation.gov.au
- California Attorney General, AB 1200 enforcement advisory. oag.ca.gov
- MessyPig materials rubric. MessyPig materials rubric
One useful email a fortnight
New scores, brands that finally answered, and any rule change that affects what you can buy. The list is not open yet — email us and we will add you when it is.