For those of you who are concerned about health conditions such as, breast and prostate cancer, sexual development abnormalities, and now heart disease, linked to the packaging additive bisphenol A (BPA), there is promising news for you:
Earlier this month, the FDA reversed its stance on the chemical, saying it is now
“taking reasonable steps to reduce human exposure to BPA in the food supply.”
It is truly a huge first step, as is the move by cities and states around the country to ban the suspected endocrine disruptor from baby products such as formula cans and ‘sippy’ cups. It could still be years, however, before we see BPA removed from thousands of other products on the market. Yes, this is including those canned soups that you enjoy every day for lunch, but don’t fret, because I enjoy them too.
What is so disconcerting about the BPA issue is that consumers have not been granted the knowledge to decide for themselves whether or not they want to buy products that are packaged with it. As with genetically modified foods, it becomes a consumer guessing game: To date, there are no labeling requirements for thousands of industrial chemicals like BPA that turn up in our food stuffs and packaging.
Here are some tips…..
Soup Swap:
A recent Consumer Reports test found BPA in 19 name-brand foods; the highest levels were in canned soup, including Campbell’s chicken noodle. Switch to Dr. McDougall’s BPA-free soups packaged in FSC-certified cartons, or just make your own from scratch, like mom used to.
Beware of Beans:
Don’t reach for canned beans to whip up that batch of black bean chili, unless you’re going to buy Eden Organic, or other such brands. Westbrae Natural, for instance, says on its website that the lining of its cans is
“a type of food-grade epoxy…the simplest earth friendly coating available.”
Tomatoes and Tuna:
If you love making pasta sauce from scratch, but even that innocent looking little can of tomato paste likely has BPA in it. This all the more reason to plant your own tomatoes, or check out the Bionaturae brand of tomato paste.
Great post! It’s definitely important for consumers to be aware of the chemicals that are seeping into their food or chemicals that are accidentally getting in their food from harsh cleansers (in our case).