The Cookware Industry Has a Big Battle That Begins Over PFAS Claims

The war is over permanent product in cookware he has seen celebrity chefs, major culinary manufacturers, and state legislators enter the fray. Now, a new front has opened for advertising claims.

Cookware company Caraway says “Big Cookware” is using the lawsuit to try to “ban” the company, which has been known to make chemical-free pans forever. Caraway recently launched an advertising campaign in response to a lawsuit filed in February by two major pot manufacturers, who say Caraway is damaging their reputation by selling its products without “dangerous” chemicals—though it has not named either company.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Groupe SEB USA and Meyer in the Southern District of New York, alleges that Caraway’s marketing revolves around chronic drugs, contact time per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), is a threat to all industries. Caraway’s marketing materials, the two companies say in the suit, are unscientific and “have caused serious harm to consumers, to Plaintiffs, and to other baking and baking companies in the market.”

In response to questions from WIRED, Carmine Zarlenga, an attorney at Mayer Brown representing Groupe SEB USA and Meyer in the case, sent a press release. “Being a small company is not a defense against false advertising—both large and small companies have the same rights and responsibilities under federal and state advertising laws,” Zarlenga said in a statement.

The case is the latest attack on anti-PFAS advertising by two of the largest companies in the global cooking industry. In 2024, when more than a dozen legislatures passed restrictions on purchases with PFAS in them, Groupe SEB, the parent company of Groupe SEB USA, and Meyer created the Cookware Sustainability Alliance, an industry advocacy group. That group has strongly opposed the ban, including signing letters and testifying in government offices.

Last fall, in the face of a bill in the California legislature to ban consumer products containing PFAS, celebrity chefs, including Rachael Ray, Marcus Samuelsson, and David Chang posted. letters to the parliament against the law. (Ray and Chang own cooking lines that are affiliated with Meyer, while Samuelsson serves as a “chef partner” for All-Clad, which is owned by Groupe SEB. WIRED sought comment from All Clad, Ray, Samuelsson, and Chang. All four did not respond.) The bill eventually passed into law but was vetoed by Governor Gavin News.

“The Cookware Sustainability Alliance is focused on government advocacy to protect safe cookware from being compromised by more PFAS restrictions,” the group’s president, Steve Burns, told WIRED in an email. “We are not involved in any criminal activity at this time.”

Last year, the Cookware Sustainability Alliance challenged Caraway’s claims through the National Advertising Division (NAD), an independent nonprofit organization often associated with the National Business Bureau’s self-regulatory programs for the advertising industry. The union objected to some of Caraway’s advertising around PFAS.

The NAD ordered Caraway to continue marketing its products as “harmless” and “PFAS-free,” but to avoid specific claims in its advertising, including that some non-stick cookware “can release toxins into food and your home under normal use, as recommended by manufacturers.”

Caraway, the February lawsuit alleges, continued to use the messages despite the NAD’s decision. The company says that most of the advertising examples shown in the lawsuits only claim that its products are non-toxic and comply with NAD recommendations. But the suit also claims that Caraway “did not download many of the ads.” In a memo to support the dismissal, Caraway said NAD did not provide “any assistance regarding consumer fraud.”