Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

When the reports came out about plastic bottles and nalgene bottles containing BPA and that it was a toxic chemical, I had no idea that manufacturers of canned goods are also using it to line tin cans.

I know many of us have canned goods in our extended food storage and that the longer you store foods, the more BPA will leach into it.

http://www.ewg.org/reports/bisphenola

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008...-from-cans.php

They state that rinsing canned foods before heating may reduce the amount of BPA in the food, so those of you who cook your green beans and other canned goods in the water or syrup they are packed in might want to change that.

I can't see just getting rid of this stuff as I've got $$ invested in it, so I'm just phasing stuff out and not buying any new canned beans or other veggies I can put up myself in glass jars. I'll be using dried beans to can cooked beans for quick meals.

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

all I can say is ....aww :censored:. Thanks for the heads up.

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

Great topic to highlight, thanks!

Here's a related thread about a related podcast:

http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=395989

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

My sweetie has been all over it for a couple years now.

Banned from the house.

Glass is class.

scyth

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

aww shucks :embarasse thanks

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

Written by David Biello
Published - February 19, 2008

Food Containers Leach a Potentially Harmful Chemical

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a ubiquitous compound in plastics. First synthesized in 1891, the chemical has become a key building block of plastics from polycarbonate to polyester; in the U.S. alone more than 2.3 billion pounds (1.04 million metric tons) of the stuff is manufactured annually.

BPA is routinely used to line cans to prevent corrosion and food contamination; it also makes plastic cups and baby and other bottles transparent and shatterproof. When the polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins made from the chemical are exposed to hot liquids, BPA leaches out 55 times faster than it does under normal conditions, according to a new study by Scott Belcher, an endocrine biologist at the University of Cincinnati. "When we added boiling water [to bottles made from polycarbonate] and allowed it to cool, the rate [of leakage] was greatly increased," he says, to a level as high as 32 nanograms per hour.

"It is the unborn baby and children that investigators are most worried about," Newbold says, noting that BPA was linked to increased breast and prostate cancer occurrences, altered menstrual cycles and diabetes in lab mice that were still developing.

Fred vom Saal, a reproductive biologist at the University of Missouri–Columbia, warns that babies likely face the "highest exposure" in human populations, because both baby bottles and infant formula cans likely leach BPA. "In animal studies, the levels that cause harm happen at 10 times below what is common in the U.S." says vom Saal, who also headed the NIH panel that concluded the chemical may pose risks to humans.


"Based on the studies reviewed by FDA, adverse effects occur in animals only at levels of BPA that are far higher orders of magnitude than those to which infants or adults are exposed," says FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek. "Therefore, FDA sees no reason to ban or otherwise restrict the uses now authorized at this time."

A new E.U. law (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances, or REACH), which took effect last year, requires that chemicals, such as BPA, be proved safe. Currently, though, it continues to be used in Europe; the EFSA last year found no reason for alarm based on rodent studies. European scientists cited multigenerational rat studies as reassuring and noted that mouse studies may be flawed because the tiny rodent is more susceptible to estrogens.

For now, U.S. scientists with concerns about BPA recommend that anyone sharing those worries avoid using products made from it: Polycarbonate plastic is clear or colored and typically marked with a number 7 on the bottom, and canned foods such as soups can be purchased in cardboard cartons instead.

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

i have so much can food . i never use the water the bean are corn , pea come in , we use butter most of the time when we heat the food up , an when we make soup useing can vegs we never use the water in the can

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

Very good question. I know it makes contact with food when in the canning process, but at least most canned goods have air space keeping the food from touching it fi it does contain BPA.


I'm still very much researching this. In fact, DH & I are looking at all of the ways we can cut chemicals out of our lives, so I'll likely have more reports of different chemicals to follow.

Here is a link where it names some of the brands that have BPA in the lining of their cans.

http://organicgrace.com/node/316

There's still quite a few missing from that list, so I'm still looking.

I replaced all of the plastics in our kitchen (other than lids for glassware) with glass containers. I also use canning jars for a lot of things.

More info at these links:

http://safemama.com/2008/05/03/bpa-i...s-to-avoid-it/

http://www.opposingviews.com/article...end-use-of-bpa

Pet food - http://www.bigcatrescue.org/pets/BPAinCannedPetFood.htm

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

I am sad...:thumpdown

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

A related question: Ball and Kerr now appear to owned by the same company. I have lids that are marked "Kerr by Ball". As such, is there any difference between Ball and Kerr lids?

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

I'm not sure about it just off-gassing into the environment. It seems like it would dissipate into the atmosphere, but I really don't have any real info on that. I would make sure you have decent ventilation.... should have that anyway.

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

If you look on the side that faces down into the jar, Kerr lids are metal, but Ball has a white polymer coating.

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

Kerr is cheaper there? They're always about a dollar a case more here. Go figure.

TA, you should be able to order Kerr lids and use them on any jar you have already. Google it, you'll pull up lots of places on the internet if you don't mind ordering them.

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

Kerr jars are also cheaper here. I need to look at a few cases of Ball jars and Ball lids, but all of the ones I recently handled did not have any polymer coating on the lids. Other than the sealing compound, the lids are all metal.

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

Okay, I went and got some new Ball jar lids last night after leaving the office. Sure enough the metal on the "food side" of these lids is coated with a white slick polymer. I am not sure when this started as all of the other Ball jar lids I have do not have this coating.

Not sure what the coating is but it looks and feels a lot like the coating used on cans holding commercially canned tomatoes. As such, I am going to act as if it is Bisphenol A until I can get Ball to confirm or deny it.

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

I have lots of NOS Ball lids and jars I got when a store closed, so I am not used to the new Ball lids.

Re: Bisphenol A: Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food
 

ImaCannin -

Old scrounger trick for greenhouses.

Used to be local sliding patio door manufacturers sold

The "seconds" thermopane glass door panels for dirt cheap.

Basically 30 something inches by about 6'6".

I've built three greenhouses that way, works slick.

Also, per federal regs, all that glass is safety glass.

Look around locally for a building supply recycler

Or a manufacturer.


scyth