New report shows most brands of canned food still contain the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA).
You may recall the uproar over BPA in plastic baby bottles and reusable water bottles that dominated the media over five years ago. Most of us bought new, BPA-free bottles and didn’t give this dangerous chemical much more thought.
However…
It turns out that many Americans are still being exposed to BPA every day through canned foods.
According to a new report released by the Environmental Working Group, very few of the 252 brands of canned foods they examined promise to be BPA-free. The rest either still use BPA in their plastic linings (which are designed to prevent metals from corroded cans from leaching into the food) or else were not able to confirm to the researchers that their products were in fact BPA-free.
Here is a list of the only 31 brands that the report classified as BPA-free across all their products:
- Ace of Diamonds
- American Tuna
- Amy’s
- Annie’s Homegrown
- Beach Cliff
- Bearitos
- Bionaturae
- Earth’s Best Organic
- Earthpure
- Farmer’s Market
- Genova
- Gluten Free Cafe
- Health Valley
- Health Valley Organic
- Imagine
- Juanita’s
- Jyoti Natural Foods
- King Oscar
- Lucini Italia
- Muir Glen
- Native Forest
- Natural Sea
- Pillar Rock
- Port Clyde
- Raincoast Trading
- Read
- Seneca
- Sprouts Farmers Market
- Tyson
- Walnut Acres
- Westbrae Natural
Why Worry About BPA
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a known endocrine disruptor that has been linked to brain and behavior issues in infants and children. More recently, a growing body of research has begun showing that BPA has serious ill effects on adults as well. For example, researchers in South Korea established a link between drinking from BPA-lined cans and elevated blood pressure. Other studies have shown that BPA exposure can cause problems with sperm and embryo quality, alter the concentration of thyroid and sex hormones, and even contribute to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Can a Little BPA Really Be So Bad?
With most chemicals, the larger the dose, the bigger the health impact. But with BPA, the ill effects actually follow a U-shaped curve. Strong effects can be seen at very low exposure, but as exposure grows to moderate the effects may level off. With a very high exposure, more strong effects will again be seen.
This pattern is very similar to what you would see with a hormone. Our natural hormones are also able to deliver big impacts at very low levels—even at a parts per trillion level. Compare this to BPA exposure at the parts per billion level, and you can see that a “low” level of BPA isn’t actually so low in comparison to your natural hormones.
What Should You Do About BPA?
The first step you can take to protect yourself from BPA exposure through canned food is to simply avoid any brand that has not promised its cans are BPA-free. Switch to fresh or frozen fruits and veggies, and for soups and broths look for ones that come in Tetra Pak cartons.
Additionally, you may want to come get your hormone levels tested at Renew Man™. We can help identify any hormonal imbalances you may have and provide treatment options for bringing them into a healthy range.