Do you eat canned foods? A recent survey found that over half of American families eat canned fruit, vegetables, beans, soups, or meat/fish. About 40% of Americans use canned milk.
If you are one of the millions of Americans who eat canned foods there’s a good chance that you are still being exposed to the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA).
We’ve been hearing about the harmful effects of BPA over the past few years and many of us have been trying to avoid products with this toxic chemical. If you’ve been hanging out with me for a while you know that I’ve been writing about BPA issues for years [1] and was even interviewed by ABC World News [2] about BPA.
Bisphenol A, often called BPA, is one of the most widely used and thoroughly studied toxic chemicals. Overall, progress is being made in reducing the use of BPA in can linings, but more work is needed by the nation’s top retailers to reduce the use of BPA and find safer substitutes.
If you eat canned foods you could be exposed to BPA. Read more here #kickthecan [3]Click To Tweet [3]Recent testing by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) [4] shows that BPA linings are still found in many brands of these commonly eaten canned food products.
BPA in canned food is harmful
BPA is an endocrine-disrupting chemical [5] that negatively impacts our hormonal systems. It can also contribute to breast and prostate cancer, infertility, type-2 diabetes, obesity, asthma and attention deficit disorder. Other studies have shown that BPA can migrate into food and then into people, raising concerns about low dose exposure.
Despite hundreds of scientific studies showing exposure to BPA is linked to significant health concerns – diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer – it is still used in food cans that millions of Americans buy every day. BPA in can linings can migrate into the food stored inside the can and expose us to this toxic chemical.
New report shows BPA continues to be a problem in can linings
A little over a year ago a report was released [5] finding that two out of three cans tested have BPA in the lining. The report took a look at cans of vegetables, fruits, soups, broth, gravy, milk and beans from Campbell’s, Del Monte, General Mills, Kroger, Albertsons and more. As a follow-up, CEH tested cans purchased in 2017 [6] to determine whether can lining materials have changed since 2015.
The testing of more than 250 cans from eleven states shows that nearly 40% of the cans tested contain BPA, a dangerous chemical that is known to cause birth defects and is linked to breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other serious health problems.
BPA-free could be just as dangerous
In the testing, 19% of the can linings contained PVC.
- Albertsons – 17% of the cans tested (12/69) contained PVC.
- Kroger – 16% of the cans tested (12/73) contained PVC.
- Dollar Tree –25% of the What you can docans tested (14/55) contain PVC.
- 99 Cents Only — 17% of the cans tested (9/52) contain PVC
What you can do
- Stay away from canned foods when possible and opt for fresh and frozen alternatives.
- When purchasing canned food, look for labels that say “BPA-free” and “PVC-free”.
- When purchasing canned food, ask your store about BPA-free canned foods. Let your store know that you care about your health and you want only BPA-free products.
- Ask Kroger and Albertsons to “mind the store [7]” and do the right thing to safeguard our health and food.
Are you concerned about BPA and BPA alternatives in your canned food?
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