When I was naming things you shouldn't microwave, I didn't list frozen vegetables. However, WSCH in Portland is running a news story (complete with video) about frozen vegetables sparking when being microwaved. At least two Texas consumers have reported seeing sparks and small flames during the first few seconds of microwaving Green Giant frozen mixed vegetables. The USDA says the vegetables are perfectly safe to eat and that the sparking probably is due to the presence of naturally-occurring minerals found on the produce. Personally I'd guess it's similar to the plasma phenomenon seen when microwaving grapes. I have never seen flames on my veggies while nuking them, but I don't usually watch them cook, so I might be missing out on some entertainment.
Ivory Soap in a Microwave | Toothpicks in a Microwave
Ivory Soap in a Microwave | Toothpicks in a Microwave
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The same thing happened to me when I microwaved frozen Great Value (WalMart brand) mixed vegetables. It also sparked when I microwaved Del Monte green beans. Not sure what the issue is. I even cleaned the microwave completely to be sure it wasn’t because of any build up per the recommendation of other sites.
I just bought a new micro as the tech said mine was broke when the Sam’s Club Moxed veggies sparked. email me and I will send a short video of it; so I bought a new micro and it does the same thing. Tried different plates, etc, same thing.
I wonder if there is not something in the bags to keep freshness that has some ore in it. I wish the FDA would test this instead of blowing it off.
I am having the same thing happen, BUT, just recently. I’ve microwaved frozen veggies for years and this never happened, so why is it all of a sudden nationwide?
Same thing has been happening to me. I thought it was my mircowave, as it was a bit old. So I just got a new, pretty expensive one. Same thing! Plus, what is even more strange is that I use Stop & Shop’s Natures Promise ORGANIC frozen vegetables. It’s also happened with Cascadian Farm Organic Peas & Green Beans. They all spark like I put metal in the microwave plus some smoke and burn.
We had peas spark, and then today sweet potatoes that were already cooked and I warmed them up and got sparks. They were fresh and never frozen. Both times for me it was from reheating cooked veggies (for baby food). Weird.
This just happened to me with a fresh sweet potato. I steamed it in the microwave with the skin on and it was ok. Later I cut it up into small chunks and re-heated it in the microwave and the sparks flew.
This just happened to me while heating up some green beans. I did some playing around with it and found that if I have a a few pieces in the microwave not touching each other, then there are no sparks. If I touch two of them together, then the sparks and small flame fly! Craziness!
I just had it happen with a sweet potato that was baked yesterday, but I cut the leftovers into chunks and heated it today. It leaves little black marks where the sparks came from and you can even smell it! It also happened a few days ago with some frozen green beans that I had already cooked but was reheating. It’s never happened before… what is going on??
I chop fresh serrano chilis en mass and then freeze them to keep later meal preparation more simple. Today my chilis burst into flames when I defrosted them in my microwave! I took off the offending chili the off the plate the first time it happened and tried again–same thing happened! Wild!
This is really alarming. I’ve had this happen on several occasions when reheating green giant previously frozen vegetables. Vegetables should not contain enough of any ore to cause this sparking…
lol i figured that out while microwaving carrots mine were cut and edges that were touching were sparking my guess is that at a cut or skiny point the molecules are the thinkist so when in contact with another edge and a microwave it causes the molecules in the minerals to either transfer electrons or cause a reaction
I used to get this when microwaving Aldi’s cheapest mixed frozen veggies. (Australia).
The only thing in my mind that causes this is METAL.
Yes, you can see the burn-holes in the pieces of carrot and beans! So I just don’t buy them!
Ok, this happened to me a few times today with green beans – after just a few seconds these suckers were lighting up a storm.. once I tried a styrofoam bowl to make sure it wasn’t the other bowl I had used.. 4 seconds and two big “sparks” and there was a hole burned through the bowl about and inch big. I have never seen anything like this before…. Can someone conduct an independent study???
This just happened to me with frozen green beans. I microwave a lot of veggies and this is the first time it has happened. There wasn’t any metal on the bowl.
I’ve had this same problem, small sparks coming from food (green beans but also potatoes under plastic foil). I wonder if it’s static electricity (the microwave has a turntable inside on plastic wheels). Or simply a microwave antenna which is sending out the wrong kind of waves??
Never had this problem with my old microwave (bought 14 years ago, never any problems) but the new one is really scaring me. Don’t think this can be healthy at all…. Are microwaves checked by any government body at all before they hit the shelves??
I have bought pea/carrot combination from two
different grocery stores and BOTH have sparks, flames
and odor. I thought only metal would cause this in
a microwave! What is causing this??? It doesn’t matter
what brand it is….it still happens!
i looked for comments on the web about frozen vegetables sparking in a microwave.after years of no problems i have had it happen with 3 different brands of frozen peas and green beans.using canned veg now when i cant find fresh…no more frozen veg!
I have had the sparking with many frozen veggies and canned green beans. I never have the sparking if they are covered with water. But yesterday I reheated some cooked “fresh” green beans and the sparking still happened, there was just a small amount of water in the bottom. So I guess fresh, frozen or canned it will still happen.
Me too. First it was tiny pieces of chicken for our 1 year old and now it’s beans…. Never did beans before just started happening now???? Very strange and creepy. What are we feeding my son?
I think the issue is answered pretty well here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060911061259AALYJUE
Basically, it has to do with higher mineral contents (iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium) in certain veggies and other factors related to the microwaving process itself.
If you read the ingredients on the side of a frozen veggie bag, nothing is listed but the vegetables (no preservatives, etc.). People also experience the same thing with fresh vegetables.
I think we are all jumping to “worse case” conclusions. Yes, it’s scary when things spark and catch on fire, but the reason can be very simple (and benign).
fresh green beans completely fried my microwave… something made a POP and now my microwave no longer functions….
I added a cup of water to properly load the microwave and it stopped sparking.
I am shocked as I scan down this site and read all these stories! I went to re-heat my asparagus in the microwave and it sparked and popped then caught fire…What!!! Why would this happen it never has happened before…I dont want to settle down at all that is just Freaky and it really scared me!!! Could something be going on with our food? chemicals,processing plants,what and why? Very shocked and nervous!
I was reheating Birds Eye Steamfresh on a ceramic plate and got sparks. I then took a fresh batch and put them on a paper plate, and still had sparks. I’m just glad I was near the microwave when the sparks started so that I could turn the microwave off before damage could be done.
I too had those sparks in my microwave. It’s usually with fresh veggies that were cooked and it sparks when I reheat them. It happened with carrots and sweet potatoes. I thought it might have something to do with orange veggies but as I read other peoples’ comments, it also happens with other kinds… Forzen or non frozen… this is weird! Anybody finally found out what causing that?
This has happened to me with fresh, organic vegetables as well! I have cooked/boiled sweet potatoes and carrots for my young son, and on several occasions afterward when I have gone to reheat them in the microwave for him, they immediately start sparking and have emitted flames! This has never happened in all the years I have used the microwave, and now 3 times in the past 6 months.
Haha…I just googled why my green beans spark in my microwave and I was brought here and read all of your comments. Im glad im not crazy. It was quite a light show in my microwave and luckily it didnt break. I won’t heat them again because it is a little frightening. I assumed there were metal filings or something but a high mineral content is something I’d rather believe.
In response to the previous post- I did the exact same thing. Greens beans (canned) seem to be the biggest culprit. I am determined to find out why!
We were just heating up some Birds Eye Steamfresh and they sparked started smoking and my Microwave shut down. The Microwave is less than a year old and was not cheap. Anyone else have it break their Microwave?