No doubts, canned food is convenient and low priced. But a hidden health tax that you may pay will grossly exceed all the benefits of convenience if the plastic lining inside the can contains bisphenol A – BPA. So, the question is – if this lining really contains BPA? Unfortunately, the answer is big yes.
“Buyers Beware: Toxic BPA and regrettable substitutes found in the linings of canned food”
During the latest canned food testing on bisphenol A, a coalition of health and environmental organizations tested 192 cans of food, randomly chosen from many retailers in Canada and U.S., and found that almost 70% of those cans contained BPA.
This research was conducted and produced as a collaborative effort by the following organizations: Breast Cancer Fund, Campaign for Healthier Solutions, Clean Production Action, Ecology Center, Mind the Store Campaign. Also, 22 organizations from 19 U.S. states and from the province of Ontario, Canada, participated in this study.
At the end of March 2016, the research team released a report titled “Buyers Beware: Toxic BPA and regrettable substitutes found in the linings of canned food”, where it is stated: “Our findings were alarming. We expected that the explosion in consumer demand for BPA-free packaging would have resulted in swifter action by canned food brands and retailers. However, 67% of the cans tested (129 out of 192) contained BPA-based epoxy in the body and/or the lid.”
Toxic BPA is still hiding in many popular brands of canned food. Bisphenol A was found in all Campbell cans tested, 70% of Del Monte products, half of Progresso and Green Giant cans, and many of the private label cans sold by Kroger, Albertsons, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, and Target, as well as in dollar stores.
“This report is meant to serve as a wake-up call for national brands and retailers of canned food who are jumping from the frying pan into the fire by eliminating BPA and potentially replacing it with regrettable substitutes. Consumers want BPA-free canned food that is truly safer, not canned food lined with chemicals that are equally or more toxic.”
Bisphenol A and Human Health
Bisphenol A is a synthetic chemical compound produced in large quantities for polycarbonate plastics that have many applications including use in some food and drink packaging including food cans and water bottles.
No wonder that human exposure to BPA is widespread. Just one example: the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in the USA by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found detectable levels of BPA in 93% of 2517 urine samples from people six years and older.
Another example: In 2006, the US Government sponsored an assessment of the scientific literature on BPA. 38 experts in fields involved with bisphenol A gathered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to review several hundred studies on BPA, many conducted by members of the group. The group issued the Chapel Hill Consensus Statement, which stated “BPA at concentrations found in the human body is associated with organizational changes in the prostate, breast, testis, mammary glands, body size, brain structure and chemistry, and behavior of laboratory animals.”
Researchers have linked BPA to endocrine disruption in fetuses and children, sexual and reproductive development problems, hormonal effects that increased risk for breast and prostate cancers, infertility, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and asthma.
Of course, it’s your choice to buy canned food or not to buy. But maybe better safe than sorry?
References:
- http://www.toxicfoodcans.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/BPA-BuyerBeware.pdf
- https://www.yahoo.com/news/toxic-bpa-found-majority-canned-food-packaging-220130062.html
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2967230/ (“Chapel Hill bisphenol A expert panel consensus statement: Integration of mechanisms, effects in animals and potential to impact human health at current levels of exposure”)
- https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/sya-bpa/
