Why is My Aluminum Foil Dissolving? 2
Back in the old days, aluminum foil was used to wrap just about everything. Kids went to school with their lunch box fully packed with sandwiches wrapped in aluminum foil. Pickles were wrapped in aluminum foil and so were the homemade snacks. Just about everything we carried in our lunchbox was wrapped in aluminum foil (balled up aluminum foil was a great source of entertainment).
In addition to stuffing our lunch boxes with aluminum foil and later throwing the aluminum foil balls around the lunchroom, my parents also used the product more traditionally in cooking. After the hot roast came out of the oven, covering it with aluminum foil was a perfectly acceptable way to keep it protected.
When the roast was cool enough to touch, it went into the fridge. I never remember seeing small black holes in the aluminum foil or traces of dissolved aluminum foil on the meat (ahh, the good old days).
New and Improved Aluminum Foil
I don’t know if I was living in my childhood fantasy, but I never remember my mother complaining about the aluminum foil dissolving. Now a days I find that I cannot use aluminum foil to cover foods. It appears to melt when it spend too much time in contact with
food.
My first response was to purchase a thicker, heavier grade of aluminum foil. That didn’t work, because it dissolved onto the food too. Seeing that my first line of action didn’t work, I decided to see if other folks on the internet had the same problem. Imagine my surprise when I found that aluminum foil dissolves when it comes into contact with acidic foods.
Check out these links:
- Acidic Foods in Contact with Aluminum Foil: A Cause of Parkinson’s/Alzheimer’s Disease?
- Ask A Scientist
Although my research indicates that eating food with dissolved aluminum foil on it is perfectly safe, I’d rather not. I’ve spent time cutting off the ‘melted’ portions of aluminum foil from my food. I now wait until the food is cool enough and use plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil.
Alzheimer’s Disease and Aluminum
There appears to be a correlation between Alzheimer’s disease and aluminum toxicity in the brain. Although, these sites do not point to 
aluminum foil as the cause of the toxicity, they do mention items like antiperspirants containing aluminum, aluminum utensils and self-rising flour which contains aluminum, just to name a few (Here’s another site: Alzheimer’s and Aluminum, Is there a connection?) .
My Conclusion
There may not be a connection between aluminum foil and Alzheimer’s disease. Additonally, according to my limited research, it may be ‘perfectly safe’ to eat food with melted aluminum foil; however, in my book, I’m not doing it. I already had a calcified brain scare. No sense in eating aluminum to create some other unwanted health condition.
