A list of cans with, and cans without, BPA.
Are you willing to pay 2.2 cents more per can to get the BPA out of our canned food?
WITHOUT BPA:
Eden Foods: All 33 of its organic beans, chili, rice & beans, refried, and flavored.
Trader Joe's Brand: Canned corn, tomatoes, beans (except baked beans), tunafish, anchovies, poultry, beef, coconut milk, fruit (except mandarins) and vegetables (except artichokes).
Hunt's Tomato Products: Only their plain tomatoes - but great first step!!!
Whole Foods: 27% of its store-brand canned goods. No specifics given!*
Native Factor: Coconut Water.
Native Forest: Organic coconut milk, asparagus, mushrooms, hearts of palm and all of their canned fruits.
Ecofish (Henry & Lisa's): Canned Tuna.
Oregon's Choice: Canned Tuna.
Vital Choice: Canned salmon, albacore tuna, sardines and mackerel.
Wild Planet: Canned Tuna.
Nature's One: Organic powdered baby milks.
Muir Glen: Is 'just' starting to transition to BPA-free - (only its) tomato products. I would wait for six months before purchasing.
Tetra-pak (aseptic containers) are lined with Polyethylene, not BPA. 'Pomi' Brand Chopped tomatoes in tetra-paks are becoming more widely available.
WITH BPA:
Eden Foods: Canned tomato products (look for their new - glass jars)
Trader Joe's Brand: All soups, chilis and stews. Plus; Sardines, Crab, Cherrystone Clams & Oysters, Mandarins, Hatch Chilies, Artichokes, Organic Baked Beans.
Whole Foods: 73% of its store-brand canned goods.
ALL food cans out there other than those listed above...
Amy's, Annie's, Bionaturae, Brad's, Muir Glen, Westbrae, cans are lined with BPA.
Most All Aluminum Cans are lined with BPA.
Polycarbonate plastic (grouped in #7) contains BPA and BPAF (worse!).
Many shiny thermal receipts contain BPA.
(ATM receipts, cash register receipts, prescription labels, lottery/airline tickets, etc)
Don’t hand children receipts that might contain BPA!
Don’t recycle receipts that might contain BPA!
Since 1999 Eden Foods has used steel cans coated with a 'baked-on oleoresinous c-enamel', which does not contain BPA. Oleoresin is a non-toxic mixture of oil and resin extracted from plants, such as pine or balsam fir.'(1) The cost is currently 2.2 cents more (14%) than cans with industry-standard BPA epoxy liners. Yet that natural liner is not approved by the FDA for acid foods, such as tomatoes. Hopefully in the very near future, alternative liners will be put on the market as more research is completed. But as of now, be aware that canned tomatoes, soups and pastas are your highest sources of BPA due to their acid consuming the lining of the can.
The Environmental Working Group estimates that BPA exposure is 'unsafe' in 11 percent of all canned food and an unbelievable one-third of all infant formula.(2) When BPA was detected, the EWG found a single serving contained enough BPA to expose a woman or infant to levels more than 200 times the government's safe level of exposure for industrial chemicals. In the 2010 study, 'No Silver Lining', food from 50 cans collected from 19 US states and Ontario, Canada were tested for BPA contamination. Over 90% of the cans tested had detectable levels of BPA, and some at much higher levels than had been detected previously.(3) The study's tests show that meals involving one or more cans of food can "cause a pregnant woman to ingest levels of BPA that have been shown to cause health effects in developing fetuses in laboratory animal studies."(3) Consumer Reports' latest tests of canned foods found that almost all of the 19 name-brand foods they tested contain some BPA. "A 165-pound adult eating one serving of canned green beans from their sample, could ingest about 0.2 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight per day, about 80 times higher than the experts' recommended daily upper limit."(4)
The Breast Cancer Fund recently released a product testing report called "BPA in Thanksgiving Canned Food." For the study canned goods were purchased in California, Massachusetts, New York and Minnesota. Four cans of each of the common Thanksgiving staples: Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, Campbell’s Turkey Gravy, Carnation Evaporated Milk (by Nestle), Del Monte Fresh Cut Sweet Corn (Cream Style), Green Giant Cut Green Beans (by General Mills), Libby’s Pumpkin (by Nestle) and Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce were purchased. The results showed a tremendous variability in BPA levels in the canned foods tested, from non-detectable to 221 parts per billion. Variabily was extreme even among cans of the same product made by the same company, which means that consumers have no way of knowing how much BPA is in the canned food they’re buying and consuming. www.breastcancerfund.org
A 2011 study by Harvard University analysized the urine of seventy-five people for BPA. Each participant ate a 12-ounce serving of either fresh or canned soup for five days in a row. They were advised not to otherwise alter their regular eating habits. After a two-day break, the groups switched and ate the opposite type of soup. The study showed the canned soup eaters had 1,221 per cent higher levels of BPA in their urine than those who ate the fresh soup.5
The Good Guys:
Resources:
*) www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/bisphenol-a
1) www.edenfoods.com Read this!
2) www.ewg.org/node/20936
3) www.contaminatedwithoutconsent.org/nosilverlining
4) www.consumerreports.org
5) www.canada.com
According to the Environmental Working Group, the amount of BPA in receipts can be 1,000 times that found in cans or bottles. "Retail workers carry an average of 30 percent more BPA in their bodies than other adults. The Japan Paper Association began to halt the use of BPA in 1998, completing the phase-out by 2003." www.ewg.org/bpa-in-store-receipts
Although the rest of us can most likely count cans as our largest source. See www.ehp03.niehs.nih.gov study shows that returning to fresh, uncanned foods reduces (not eliminates) BPA levels considerably in a rather short time.
www.treehugger.com
www.willystreet.coop/BPA
www.inspirationgreen.org/plastics-bpa.html Numerous studies listed.
www.ecofish.com
www.edwardandsons.com/native_info
www.traderjoes.com All TJ products non-GMO!
www.vitalchoice.com
www.wildplanetfoods.com
www.blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2010/01 - good post
What can you do?
How about an e-mail to those companies you purchase canned food from...
You are welcome to copy and paste this example if you would like.
Dear Food Company,
Although it is true that the scientific studies regarding BPA exposure are conflicting and confusing, why not be safe rather than sorry and line your cans without the addition of the hormone distruptor BPA. Eden foods has been doing that for more than a decade and they estimate an initial additional cost of 2.2 cents per can (until a safer, cheaper, more natural solution comes to light).
As a customer, I promise to pay the additional 2 cents for your product if you go BPA-free. But if you do not, my only recourse is to discontinue use of your product.
Sincerly,
BPA is
Found In:
* Food and drink packaging
* Store Receipts
* The lining of food cans
* The lining of aluminum cans
* Milk container linings
* The inside of bottle tops
* Water Pipes
* Dental sealants
* Polycarbonate tableware
* Plastic Wrap
* Some Newspaper Ink
* Carbonless Copy Paper
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