Thoughts? Number one startles me slightly since I eat a lot of canned black beans and the like:
"The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A
The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people’s body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals.
“You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young,” says vom Saal. “I won’t go near canned tomatoes.”"
Maybe Bill could chime in on that one since his Chemistry expertise could be applicable there…
This is interesting. I didn’t know that about canned goods.
But I noticed they are specifically talking about acidic foods, tomatoes being one that are canned and can cause the BPA to leach into the food. So I would imagine black bean being fine as well with canned tuna.
You said “the like” so I would compare the acidic levels that of canned tomatoes. If they are closely related I probably would stop eating that canned good. Again, this is me understanding that BPA is only released into canned foods that are acidic.
I heard about BPA around the summer of 2008 – it was my understanding this is the same chemical that is released when people put tupperware in the microwave, or when water bottles are left in the heat.
It causes prostate and breast cancer in addition to the lower sperm levels you mentioned.
[quote]Fuzzyapple wrote:
But I noticed they are specifically talking about acidic foods, tomatoes being one that are canned and can cause the BPA to leach into the food.
Again, this is me understanding that BPA is only released into canned foods that are acidic. [/quote]
[quote]Fuzzyapple wrote:
This is interesting. I didn’t know that about canned goods.
But I noticed they are specifically talking about acidic foods, tomatoes being one that are canned and can cause the BPA to leach into the food. So I would imagine black bean being fine as well with canned tuna.
You said “the like” so I would compare the acidic levels that of canned tomatoes. If they are closely related I probably would stop eating that canned good. Again, this is me understanding that BPA is only released into canned foods that are acidic. [/quote]
So pretty much the only sardines I can safely buy now are the unflavoured ones, as all the other flavors are pretty much acids.
Relax…Think about it if people actually ate tomatoes, whole cuts of beef, apples, milk, salmon, potatoes wouldn’t the vast majority of the diets in the nation actually improve?
However, if the quantity that you eat canned foods that are acidic is low I don’t see it causing much harm. Again me thinking here, they mentioned canned tomatoes only. It releases 50mcg/L of BPA so I would imagine they listed the most acidic canned good that releases and absorbs the MOST BPA.
Again just really compare everything that you eat canned to that of canned tomatoes or just the acidity to tomatoes alone. If there is a way…
My friend is in the food canning/lining industry and I’ve discussed this with him before. I’ll try to find out if he knows any brands that don’t use BPA in their lining.
If there’s BPA in them, then I’m going with fresh tomatoes from now on. Sheesh, just when you think you have done yourself a service by buying organic canned tomatoes Tomatoes in a glass jar would be out too because the lid has a lining on it too right?
[quote]BigJawnMize wrote:
Relax…Think about it if people actually ate tomatoes, whole cuts of beef, apples, milk, salmon, potatoes wouldn’t the vast majority of the diets in the nation actually improve?[/quote]
To hell with the vast majority. I’m thinking about myself here. lol.
Tomatoes are a particular problem due to the high-acid content. In the US, only one major producer that I know of (Eden Organics) uses BPA-free cans…[/quote]
Another important tidbit.
[quote]As of December 2004, 94 of 115 peer-reviewed studies had confirmed BPAâ??s toxicity at low levels of exposure. At some of the very lowest doses the chemical causes permanent alterations of breast and prostate cells that precede cancer, insulin resistance (a hallmark trait of Type II diabetes), and chromosomal damage linked to recurrent miscarriage and a wide range of birth defects including Downâ??s syndrome (vom Saal and Hughes 2005). Few chemicals have been found to consistently display such a diverse range of harm at such low doses.
Yet all of the most recent government reviews of bisphenol A have failed to set safety standards consistent with the chemicalâ??s low-dose toxicity. Each one either preceded the development of the low-dose literature, or heavily weighted industry-sponsored studies that are now known to have fundamental design flaws rendering them incapable of detecting BPA toxicity.[/quote]
[quote]BulletproofTiger wrote:
My friend is in the food canning/lining industry and I’ve discussed this with him before. I’ll try to find out if he knows any brands that don’t use BPA in their lining.
If there’s BPA in them, then I’m going with fresh tomatoes from now on. Sheesh, just when you think you have done yourself a service by buying organic canned tomatoes Tomatoes in a glass jar would be out too because the lid has a lining on it too right?[/quote]
At the bottom of the article it recommends as a solution to use tomatoes from glass jars.
If there’s BPA in them, then I’m going with fresh tomatoes from now on. Sheesh, just when you think you have done yourself a service by buying organic canned tomatoes Tomatoes in a glass jar would be out too because the lid has a lining on it too right?[/quote]
The lid probably has a similar lining, but you’d need the acid to be in contact with the lid to release the BPA, so just store them upright and you’ll be fine. Also there’s a lot less surface area to the lid lining compared to the lining of the entire can.
I hadn’t known that the linings of cans contained bisphenol-A.
It’s not obvious what the relationship of acidity would be to leaching of bisphenol-A into the food: acid conditions wouldn’t make bisphenol-A more water soluble. In fact the reverse is true: alkaline conditions would do this.
If acidity does increase leaching it wouldn’t be by that mechanism. I suppose it’s possible that acidity might affect other aspects of the lining and enable bisphenol-A to leave it more readily, though.
Or (it seems more likely to me) perhaps for some reason more bisphenol-A is used in the linings of cans intended for acidic conditions.
There has been concern over BPA levels in all canned good, not just acidic canned foods, here in Canada for the past year. So I can’t speak to levels in the US or elsewhere…
It’s my understanding from the reading that I’ve done, that it’s the lining of the cans that contains BPA. Not all manufacturers use it (not sure why it’s used), but it was supposed to be removed. However, they renegged on this decision and continue to produce cans with BPA in the liners…
If you’re worried about fish (e.g. tuna) in cans, you have more of a concern over the heavy metal content of the fish, as opposed to the BPA.
The big concern over BPA has mostly been with infants due to their sensitivity and being a lot smaller than an adult. XXX ppm of BPA in an infants body would/could considerably more damage than the same level in an adult…
My personal thoughts on this, is that they’ll just scrap it shortly, and then replace it with something else that 10 years down the road will be found to be just as, or more toxic than BPA.
I really liked seeing #3 on the list - Microwave Popcorn… I sent this article off to all the women I work with that just woof back on the stuff in the office here, all day long…
The salmon stuff is bang on… Commercial fishing completely decimated the Atlantic Salmon to the point it’s now only found in fish farms…
Tomatoes in a glass jar would be out too because the lid has a lining on it too right?