The Soviet Union was the first country to ban microwave ovens completely in 1976 after their scientists discovered what they called "dangerous health effects." The ban lasted until 1987, making Russia the only major power to prohibit microwave technology for over a decade.
Soviet researchers found that microwaved food lost 60-90% of its nutritional value and created toxic compounds that didn't exist in conventionally cooked food. They documented that people eating microwaved food showed decreased hemoglobin levels, increased cholesterol, and weakened immune systems.
The most alarming finding? Microwaved baby formula created amino acid compounds that were toxic to kidneys and nervous systems. Soviet scientists concluded that microwave radiation fundamentally altered food chemistry in ways that made it harmful to human health.
When the Berlin Wall fell, Western microwave manufacturers lobbied aggressively to overturn the ban. The Soviet research was dismissed as "communist propaganda," and by 1992, microwaves flooded the Russian market.
Today, those original Soviet studies are buried and largely forgotten, but some independent researchers argue that the Soviets may have been right about microwave dangers all along. The appliance that revolutionized Western cooking was considered so hazardous that an entire superpower banned it outright.