No, you're not supposed to eat non-stick pan coatings and if you did I don't know what good it would do you.

The fact is, the way you cook your food is as important health-wise as what food you eat. Fats are essential components of our diets. But we all know that excessive quantities can cause a lot of health problems.

What has this to do with the coating on the pan? Well, one of the reasons we cook with oils and fats is to prevent sticking. If you use a good quality non-stick pan when frying, sauteing, stir frying or when searing before braising, you can cut the quanity of fat or oil you use right down. When baking too, using a non-stick baking tray or loaf tin means less fat is needed when oiling the pan before use.

We use oils and fats to aid with the flavour of our food too - the fat picks up flavours and carries them to our plate and palate. So health and culinary experts say to use other flavourings - vegetables, herbs, spices, broths, wine, fruit - if you want to keep your use of oils and fats to a minimum