Christine Esposito, Associate Editor11.19.09
A splatter of hot grease. Bumping the side of the oven. Maybe you were a bit overzealous with the wine when deglazing the pan. Minor burns from a kitchen mishap are a common occurrence, but cooks often leave them unattended, despite the pain and chance of scarring.
Enter a new remedy—Burn Cream MD, the brainchild of Dr. Diane Madfes, who has pooled together dermatological expertise with insider knowledge of skin care formulation and the culinary world to create a special topical treatment for minor burns.
While working in her family’s restaurant during medical school, Dr. Madfes saw quite a few burns, and realized that available products provided only temporary relief. Further, during a busy dinner or lunch service, kitchen staff would do little if anything to mediate the pain or treat the burn.
“There really wasn’t anything out in the marketplace,” Dr. Madfes said. “A lot of burn creams took a while to kick in and they didn’t stop the pain or the relief wasn’t long-lasting. We wanted to go one better.”
Through her dermatology practice, Dr. Madfes saw the other side of the problem: patients presented with scars that resulted from burns that did not get the care they needed in the beginning. “Early intervention is better for wound healing,” Dr. Madfes said.
The cream is also fast-absorbing and unscented, which makes it a logical choice for professional chefs who don’t want greasy hands or unwanted scents to interfere with their culinary creations.
In fact, Burn Cream MD has been lauded by some of the best-known chefs in the business, including Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali.
Dr. Madfes tested Burn Cream for two years in professional kitchens, mostly because they offered the best venue to test her formulation.
“It isn’t like people get burned all the time. That is why we went to restaurants,” she said.
Burn Cream MD is currently available online (www.burncreammd.com) and in specialty kitchen shops. At this point, Dr. Madfes sees only limited distribution, recognizing that the treatment sports a relatively high price point ($29.95 for a 2.5oz pump bottle and $17.99 for a box of 10 travel packets).
“The ingredients are expensive,” said Dr. Madfes, who like a true culinary expert, is unwilling to compromise on those. “I won’t change the formula.”