Consumer Reports finds BPA in 19 name-brand canned foods
November 18th, 2009
Photo via Flickr: Brandi666
Now that the dust has settled a bit on the Sigg bottle debacle and legislation to ban BPA from baby bottles and other food containers for children has either passed or is under consideration in cities and states across the country, it’s time to focus our attention on another equally potent source of the toxic chemical: canned food. A disturbing report now out by Consumer Reports, that time-trusted source of product advice and safety, says that BPA is present in nearly all of the 19 name-brand canned foods subjected to its testing — including in some products that were labeled “BPA-free”:
A 165-pound adult eating one serving of canned green beans from our sample, which averaged 123.5 ppb, could ingest about 0.2 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight per day, about 80 times higher than our experts’ recommended daily upper limit. And children eating multiple servings per day of canned foods with BPA levels comparable to the ones we found in some tested products could get a dose of BPA approaching levels that have caused adverse effects in several animal studies.
Some of the other foods revealed to have similarly high levels in the study include Progresso Vegetable Soup and Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup. Not exactly the therapeutic effect you had in mind for someone fighting off a cold.
The FDA will be revealing its plans for BPA later this month, and I have a feeling that the news will be good for concerned consumers, thanks to the negative publicity surrounding the new study that links the chemical to erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems. Nothing moves men to act faster than the threat of ED.
–Jennifer Grayson
Do this now: Limit your exposure to BPA by choosing fresh foods (learn how to make soup the old-fashioned way, from dried beans) and purchasing prepared food in glass containers when possible. Click here for more tips from Environmental Working Group on how to avoid BPA exposure.
Related posts:
California Senate passes BPA ban
Lobbyists plan to target minorities, poor to protect use of BPA
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January 21st, 2010 at 7:28 am
I heard on an NPR show yesterday that Eden Foods is the only canned food manufacturer that does not use BPA in the can linings.
http://www.edenfoods.com/
The authors of the book, Slow Death by Rubber Duck, were talking about their book and mentioned Eden Foods several times.
http://slowdeathbyrubberduck.com/CAN/
January 21st, 2010 at 8:39 am
I hadn’t heard about that book, Andrea. Thanks for letting me know about it! I’ve been trying to eliminate canned foods completely from my diet. I only use dried beans now to make soups and I switched from tomato paste cans to the Bionaturae brand that comes in a little glass jar. I just realized though, that I’m going to have to contact the companies for the sardines I buy. I’ll post what I find, though I’m not sure that many readers care much for sardines! (I do, though, and they’re super healthy; it would suck if I had to stop eating them because of BPA in the can linings.)
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Here is a link to the interview that I heard.
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/10/01/20.php
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:15 pm
BTW, I’ve bought Eden foods canned beans before (just by chance) and they were good. Although, that’s probably not saying much because I doubt it’s hard to screw up canned beans.
February 4th, 2010 at 11:17 am
They are really good – I agree. The beans are a lot firmer than with other brands.
February 4th, 2010 at 11:18 am
That’s great – thank you! Those Slow Death by Rubber Duck guys have been getting a lot of press. I’ve seen them everywhere.
February 4th, 2010 at 11:36 am
Those guys deserve a lot of credit for making the topic so accessible.