Nice Cans: Getting BPA Out of the Food Supply

We are all still reeling from the BPA scare of 2008 that called for an early retirement to all plastic baby bottles, various canned foods, and an assortment of plastic bottles and such. For those of you left unaware of what exactly the BPA scare is all about, bisphenol A (also affectionately known as BPA) is a synthetic estrogen, as well as dangerous chemical, and most commonly used to strengthen plastic and line various types of food packaging (mainly, but not exclusively, cans). It has been linked to everything from cancer to bizarre cellular changes that cause all sorts of disease and neural complications. Activists and consumer rights advocates have been demanding a general ban on the chemical for years now, and just recently the FDA reversed its previous position on BPA (insisting that it was safe) and announced a renewed concern about the use of it in food packaging. Recent government studies estimate that the chemical has been found in the urine of more than 90 percent of the population, and this can’t be good.

However, it may be said that no one wants to get BPA out of the food supply more than U.S. foodmakers, who are being severely pressured to clean up their products or face a boycott and/or financial ruin. So it seems that everyone just wants to get the BPA out of the food supply, but strangely it still remains ï¿½ sometimes in abundance. The complications that arise around eradication of BPA, which is in the epoxy linings of nearly every metal can on supermarket shelves and leaches into nearly everything it comes in contact with, resides in the hugely expensive R&D it takes to find a viable alternative.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Sonja N.

4:47PM PDT on Jun 17, 2011

Thank you Eric Steinman for this informative article and the useful links in it. I emailed it to my friends. With so many additives in much of my canned food, it isn't really a difficult decision to "can the can" and go glass instead.

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Kaye S.

2:09PM PST on Mar 13, 2010

Good luck with that also.

Sakura l.

10:35AM PST on Mar 11, 2010

thanks for the post

2:54AM PST on Mar 11, 2010

Never accept plastic bags at the grocery store. Bring your own reusable bags with your “Green Living” message on it, which will let other people know that you care and are a responsible being.In the UK in 2001 the amount of all plastic waste totalled 1,678,900 tonnes, and 24,710,000 in the US in 2000.
acecard

Kim O.

8:22PM PST on Mar 3, 2010

Thank you!!

Linda L.

2:14PM PST on Mar 3, 2010

so many reasons to fear, feels overwhelming to stop all the negatives in the enviroment that for generations we thought were positives.

Terry W.

8:09AM PST on Mar 3, 2010

thanks for this article

Elaine D.

5:36AM PST on Mar 3, 2010

thanks for the story it was good