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First it was baby products, then reusable drinking bottles. Now a new report released last week by the National Workgroup for Safe Markets, a coalition of more than 17 public and environmental health groups, shows that bisphenol-A is present in most food preserved in cans (not just in the lining of the cans themselves, where it is used to protect food from corrosion and bacteria). BPA, as the chemical is also called, has been linked to a range of ills including cancer, infertility, and obesity.
For the new study (charmingly titled "No Silver Lining"), researchers analyzed 50 cans of food from 19 U.S. states and Ontario, Canada. BPA was found in a whopping 92 percent of the collected samples, with the top level being the highest yet reported in the U.S. -- 1,140 parts per billion. (In case you're keeping track, it was a can of Del Monte French Style Green Beans, and it came from Wisconsin.)
In the past, some have argued that while BPA is certainly present in a variety of plastics, the amount that actually leaches into our food is negligible. Not so here. Mike Schade, a co-author of the study, told AOL News that "real-life meals involving one or more cans of food can cause an individual to ingest levels of BPA that have been shown to cause health effects in laboratory animal studies."
The report further warns that the BPA was found across the board, regardless of brand, nutritional quality, or the price point of the foods. Whether it was the fancy gourmet stuff or the store label, BPA was in the can and therefore also in the food. Walmart's Great Value Green Peas from a store in Kentucky, and Healthy Choice Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup from a pantry in Montana, also scored high according to researchers.
As one might expect, politicians have started crying foul. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D. California, had already called for a ban on BPA in food and beverage containers. "Nearly 200 scientific studies show that exposures to low doses of BPA, particularly during pregnancy and early infancy, are associated with a wide range of adverse health effects later in life," she wrote in a column for the Huffington Post. This report will certainly add weight to her argument.
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5-25-2010 @8:22AM Tina Herzog said... Why do the senators cry foul for BPA but no one ever says anything about Aspartame?! The FDA receives more complaints about illness and death - by the direct result of ingesting Aspartame - than any other drug or food in America. Because the introduction of Aspartame was the culmination of a multi-departmental government initiative to assist the pharma world and they can't really give back all that cash and incentive now. BPA is nothing. Have another diet drink or sugar-free snack.
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6-01-2010 @8:10AM Elfbreath said... Aspartame is indeed a nasty substance. I remember as a kid , the show "Hour Magazine" hosted by Gary Collins had an episode on it... women talked of all kinds of issues from blindness to reproductive problems that were cause by Aspartame. I have SERIOUS PMS when I ingest anything with NutraSweet (aspartame), even chewing gum. I'm laid up for days with cramping very much like childbirth labor. When I avoid nutrasweet, no problems at all, no cramps, and my period sneaks up on me every time. Thankfully, I saw that episode of Hour Magazine and remembered it years later when I had menstrual trouble.... and I was able to figure out the culprit and avoid it like the plague most of the time. That is, until last week, when my sister made me a pie-- and now I'm suffering. I wish she had told me it was sugar-free!! :)
5-25-2010 @8:34AM CR said... I'm tired of all these non-information scare tactic articles that don't tell us what we can eat; instead we are now scared to eat any canned vegitables/fruits and oh yes, recently there was a scare on lettuce having salmonella bacteria, and then before that it was tomatoes and before that some other fresh vegetable...It is amazing there is anything left to eat since we also are being scared out of eating beef because of high cholesterol and chicken and pork because of the way they are being raised with hormones, etc. Now seafood is tainted because of the oil in the gulf.... it just goes on and on.... I'm with the lady who raises her own garden....think I'll go plant one this holiday weekend. Maybe if everyone went back to raising their own (people without yards still have pots and hanging planters) maybe the big shots at the factories would clean up their act when they realized that was the only way to have customers!
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5-25-2010 @12:30PM OoLaLaFrenchGirl said... I agree with you. Let's actually allow our free trade system to work for us, instead of against us. I think I will get started on my own garden this weekend as well. Good luck with yours!
5-25-2010 @8:49AM chris said... im going to start using frozen food i think it is safer than can foods in theses days you have to be careful what you eat.
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5-25-2010 @8:44AM kitty said... This is a problem we are always going to have. I am not a hippie and I do not usually get on a soap box, but we as a society have become dependent on these companies who don't care about us. Their concern rests only in how to separate us from our hard earned money regardless of what ill effects it takes on us to do so. In the last few years, I have been gardening every summer and this year I plan to start canning my own food. At least that way I will know what I put in the food. I will also know how the containers were cleaned prior to the process and I will have some control. I am a little nervous because I know there are risks but I have someone who is an experienced canner teaching me.
If we become less dependent on these companies and hurt them in the only way we can (in their pockets) then maybe, just maybe, they will be more cautious. Maybe they will value their consumers' health just a bit more. I know it is a long shot but it is the only way to send out a wakeup call to these companies.
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5-25-2010 @10:57AM Geneva said... Well, I also stopped using a lot of frozen foods years ago because of the preservatives which are put in to keep them fresh. You are right. Pretty soon we wil have to go back to eating fruits and nuts.
5-25-2010 @8:59AM Lauryn said... The only brand whose cans do not have BPA linings is Eden Organic, and even then I think it's only their bean cans, and that their tomato cans still do. What I've been doing instead is soaking my own beans the last year or so. You just put them in a pot with a couple inches of water, bring to a boil, cover, turn off the heat for two hours, and then drain, rinse, and add fresh water and simmer for 1.5 hours. It takes a little planning but it's really easy.
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5-25-2010 @8:54AM LW said... BPA-based materials are used in the manufacture of dental resins. Dental sealants, composite restorations, veneers and cements (to name a few) are comprised of dental resins.
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5-25-2010 @9:03AM Lauryn said... I assume Eden Foods would be among the 8% without BPA in the food. However, I believe that only Eden cans of beans have BPA-free linings, while their cans of tomatoes are still lined with BPA. I've been choosing to soak my own beans instead the last year or two.
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5-25-2010 @9:08AM Angiebaby said... Growing up, our family wouldn't have survived without canned foods, and believe it or not, none of us kids were born with 3 eyes or 6 toes. While the grandkids, as a whole, may not be the sharpest tools in the shed, I believe scientific testing would prove that to be a gene pool consequence, not a canned foods issue.
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5-25-2010 @9:09AM Jean said... So what do we do now? Use frozen food instead and wait until we hear about a chemical in the plastic bag used to store the food in. Then there are nano foods and other additives used that have not been tested sufficiently to determine the harm to our health. I wish I could have a job like these people in the FDA where they get paid without performing their jobs! Maybe this is a bi product of the"global economy" mentality. We have way too many foreign products coming into our country with no standards or less than our own and the entire food chain in America has been compromised in order to please our global trading partners. We need to go back to our own rules and if other countries don't comply then we shouldn't be doing business with them, especially when it comes to food products.
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5-25-2010 @9:29AM Tiffany said... Jean, the healtiest thing you can buy are fresh from a local farmer. The second healthiest is frozen, typically no salt added or other foreign substances. Never buy that crap that tells you to cook them in the "special plastic" in the microwave. Logically most people want to believe these companies, but one of the previous posts hit it right on the head. These companies are all about the money, they could care less about our families and health. If you can research Purdue and Tyson chicken from the PBS special, you will never eat it again. The beef and pork industry are just as bad. I could go on for hours. I am so outraged by what I have been reading and seeing I am now pursuing a degree in Holistic Nutrition and Health. I am doing everything I can to educate my family and friends until I am degreed and capable of helping these families who have kids with health issues who go through the grocery store and buy all these foods loaded with chemicals. Good health to you and yours.
5-25-2010 @9:19AM Lauryn said... CR, you're being very contradictory. They're not using "scare tactics" if the science is true, which you appear to accept based on your plans to grow some of your own food. I strongly support becoming a little more independent in our food sources, and depending a lot less on huge nationwide conglomerates of industrial agriculture and food production. In this case, none of the situations you mentioned could be considered "scare tactics," which are generally used to get us to behave in a certain way that is GOOD for industry.
By the way, since you mentioned meat, grass-fed beef is MUCH healthier than conventional corn-fed beef, and much more environmentally sustainable as well. Look for it online, in farmer's markets, and in grocery stores like Whole Foods (it has to be specially labled). I can provide more information on grass-fed beef and its benefits over corn-fed beef if you are interested.
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5-25-2010 @9:12AM Mark said... Several months ago I sent an Email to the office of the surgeon general asking them if they were checking military rations packaging for BPA. All of our military forces could be affected if there is BPA in those packages. I never received a reply. Can someone else ask this questionor invite the media to investigate ?
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5-25-2010 @9:32AM tina said... Canned food is also linked to developing alzheimer's disease.
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5-25-2010 @10:07AM Tiffany said... Jean, the other thing is that foods that are harvested and then frozen are still healthier because they are frozen while they are still fresh from the pesticide ridden fields! I totally agree with your comments about the government and global economy. The other deal is that the FDA and the USDA are bought by these large corporations. The corporations own the government, not the other way around. Both Clinton and Bush were so connected to these dirtbags, it makes me sick.
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5-25-2010 @2:48PM jaguignon said... Just because we have chemicals in our everyday life, it is no excuse to add another potentially deadly poisonous one to the list. That would be stupid and senseless! There are always those who write in to an article and b*tch because others are really scared. It seems to me that the ones that poo-poo the new findings are the ones that are really scared.
5-25-2010 @9:57AM cavernvision said... Does anyone know if organic canned products like organic beans,or tomatoes have BPA in them? All of the brands they talk about in any of these articles about BPA all talk about brands I don't use. I know that certain brands don't use it,but I'm wondering if it's all organic companies or only just some. Any answers? Please,only comments from people who have some real knowledge. Thanks.
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5-25-2010 @11:30AM Lauryn said... Cavern, Eden Organic is the only brand that does not use a BPA liner in their cans of beans last I heard. However, their tomato can liners do still have BPA, as do the liners or other organic brands. Just soaking your own beans is better, and chopping your own tomatoes.