We’ve visited the topic of Bisphenol A before as it relates to water bottles, baby bottles, and toys but I should have noted that BPA is also used to line the cans of food we purchase. I’ve been meaning to share this short news video with offers a quick summary of some of the known dangers, the position of the government (which is to study the effects of BPA exposure over two years), and the advice from the grocery manufacturers which is that there is no need to change purchasing and consumption patterns (anyone surprised?).
Eating large amounts of canned foods definitely makes me nervous and I tend to prefer the “better safe than sorry” path anyway. I find it hard to avoid all store bought canned goods, but slowly I am working to can my own foods (I did tomatoes and salsa this past summer and found it was not nearly as hard as I had thought). I’ve also made and frozen my own chicken broth (not too difficult either, just time consuming) so I don’t often have to buy that at the store. I’ll be posting the latest broth recipe I used in the next few days.
Other ways that you can avoid canned food would be to buy frozen or fresh items (such as veggies or fish) when possible or buy preserved foods in glass jars which can also be easily recycled. Unfortunately, this can get a little more expensive with the better packaging. Overall, the convenience factor and low price of canned foods is hard to beat, but taking precaution against the health risks is definitely important to me.
