Do Zojirushi lunch boxes have PFAS?

What Zojirushi says and does about PFAS

Zojirushi is unusually direct about its own chemistry. It says the nonstick coating on its rice cooker inner pans, water boiler liners and breadmaker pans is made using PTFE, which is a PFAS, and that its uncoated SlickSteel stainless finish exists for customers who prefer to avoid PTFE. Its absence claim is PFOA-free, the narrower claim, and one rice cooker model, the Micom NS-TPC, is the only product we found with a PFAS-free claim, limited to food-contact surfaces.

• Brand statementZojirushi says its nonstick coating is made using PTFE, or polytetrafluoroethylene, applied as a primer and a topcoat. PTFE is a fluoropolymer and therefore a PFAS. Zojirushi America ↗
• Brand statementZojirushi says its SlickSteel interior finish was introduced for customers who prefer to avoid PTFE nonstick, which is the uncoated stainless alternative used in mugs, bottles and food jars. Zojirushi America ↗
• Brand statementAnswering customers on its own blog, Zojirushi says the nonstick coating is made of PTFE and is PFOA free. PFOA free is a claim about one compound, not about PFAS as a class. Zojirushi America ↗
• MaterialsZojirushi cites FDA regulation 21 CFR 177.1550, the rule covering perfluorocarbon resins, as the basis for its coatings being safe for food contact. That is a compliance statement, not a statement that no PFAS is present. Zojirushi America ↗
• Brand statementFor one model family, the Micom Rice Cooker and Warmer NS-TPC, Zojirushi says all surfaces that come into contact with food or beverages are free of PFAS including PTFE and PFOA. That claim is scoped to that model and to food-contact surfaces. Zojirushi America ↗

Sources checked October 1, 2026. A brand statement is the company’s own claim, which we report but have not verified. Our grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests.