You may have heard about BPA being a dangerous chemical that is found in plastic baby bottles and many hard plastics.  But there is actually more BPA found in canned foods than many of these items.  This chemical is used to line metal food and drink cans and was found in over half of 97 cans of name brand fruits, veggies, soda, and other common foods in a study done by the Environmental Working Group. 

Amazingly more than 100 studies have found BPA to be toxic at low levels but not a single regulatory agency has updated safety standards to reflect this low-dose toxicity.  The FDA is responsible for ensuring that food packaging chemicals like BPA are safe. In the case of BPA, the agency has deemed the chemical safe even though its own exposure estimates for infants exceed doses shown to permanently harm the developing male reproductive system.

Of all foods tested, chicken soup, infant formula, and ravioli had BPA levels of highest concern. Just one to three servings of foods with these concentrations could expose a woman or child to BPA at levels that caused serious adverse effects in animal tests.   There are some ways to reduce your exposure to BPA in canned goods and make good choices at the grocery store. 

  1. Avoid canned tomato sauce because the acidity in the tomatoes causes the chemical to leach from the lining of the can.  Better to choose tomato sauce in a glass jar. 
  2. Choose fresh or frozen veggies instead of canned.  Not only will they be BPA free but they have better nutritional content over veggie that have been through the canning process.
  3. Canned soda and juice often contain BPA.  Don’t drink soda because its bad for your health anyway!  Choose juice in plastic or glass bottles to be safe.
  4. Use powdered infant formula instead of liquid formula.   Liquid formula can test 8 to 20 times higher than powdered because its more concentrated and not diluted by water. 

This doesnt mean you have to give up all your canned items, just use them in moderation and avoid your children eating them regularly since they are more suseptable to toxicity.  As we usually find its best to eat fresh organic food over any type of food that has been processed.  For more info on this testing please visit www.ewg.org

www.theorganicmommy.org