What did Consumer Reports say about BPA in canned foods?
The chemical Bisphenol A, which has been used for years in clear plastic bottles and food-can liners, has been restricted in Canada and some U.S. states and municipalities because of potential health effects. The Food and Drug Administration will soon decide what it considers a safe level of exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), which some studies have linked to reproductive abnormalities and a heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, and heart disease. Now Consumer Reports’ latest tests of canned foods, including soups, juice, tuna, and green beans, have found that almost all of the 19 name-brand foods we tested contain some BPA. The canned organic foods we tested did not always have lower BPA levels than nonorganic brands of similar foods analyzed. We even found the chemical in some products in cans that were labeled “BPA-free.” The debate revolves around just what is a safe level of the chemical to ingest and whether it should be in contact with food. Federal guidelines cu
The nation’s leading consumer watchdog says canned soups, green beans, baby juice and baby food may contain dangerous levels of the chemical BPA and calls for FDA action. It just got harder to eat a safe, healthy diet. Consumer Reports has released a new study that finds danger in some canned food. Based on extensive sampling, they found that the cans containing canned soups, baby food, juices and other staples such as canned green beans contain a potentially dangerous chemical called BPA (Bisphenol A). BPA is used in a thin, invisible plastic lining of the cans, not the actual metal. Ingesting too much BPA could represent a particular risk for babies and small children. According to a Consumer Reports study issued in November, 2009, BPA has been shown to be linked to adverse health effects including reproductive abnormalities, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, and heart disease. The impact of this chemical has been studied on animals. BPA was found even in some
“We are extremely disappointed that Consumer Reports failed to provide its readers with the full story on BPA in canned foods,” noted Dr. John Rost, chairman of the North American Metal Packaging Alliance, Inc. (NAMPA). “BPA-based epoxy coatings in metal packaging provide real, important and measurable health benefits by reducing the potential for the serious and often deadly effects from food-borne illnesses. This packaging enables the high temperature sterilization of food products when initially packaged and continuously protect against microbial contaminants. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) records, there has not been an incidence of food-borne illness resulting from a failure of metal packaging in the U.S. in more than 30 years.” Sources: http://www.reuters.
