Have you ever heard of the chemical Bisphenol A? It may be more familiar if I referred to it as BPA. This is often found in clear plastic bottles. That is why today you will see plastic products labeled "BPA free".
Some US states and all of Canada restricts BPA due to potential health effects. Some studies have linked BPA exposure to reproductive abnormalities and a heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, and heart disease.
Did you know that BPA is also found in canned foods?
You may find a canned good that states it is BPA free. Don't get too excited because Consumer Reports found that even canned goods with this label still contained some BPA. Consumer Reports also found that almost all of the 19 name-brand canned foods tested contained some BPA. Additionally the canned organic foods did not always have lower levels of BPA.
Federal guidelines made the daily upper limit of safe exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. Unfortunately that level is based on experiments from the 1980s!
So what can you do to avoid BPA in canned goods?
Well one would be to limit the amount of foods you consume from canned goods. Many people turn to canned goods because they are inexpensive and convenient. So if this is the case, look for the same foods but in different packaging, such as the cardboard boxes of soup and chicken broth, the pouches of tuna, and bags of dried beans. Also frozen foods are often very convenient and inexpensive as well.
Check out this article from the New York Times for more information:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/bpa-lurks-in-canned-soups-and-drinks/
No comments:
Post a Comment