Instead of the Dishes » Around the House, Go Green, Health, Health & Fitness » Time to Kick the Can?
Time to Kick the Can?
Cutting yourself on the lid is no longer the scariest thing about canned goods.
Yesterday, my friend Nicole sent me an email asking if I knew that most aluminum cans used to store food have linings that contain BPA, a chemical that’s been linked with cancer and other health problems. I responded that I did know, and then started to feel guilty that I knew and didn’t tell her. On the one hand, the studies on BPA are somewhat controversial – some say BPA isn’t harmful at all – but still, I’m the mom who immediately bought BPA-free bottles and shelled out the big bucks for metal sippy cups when the BPA frenzy first broke. So, EVERYONE, please know that the majority of the aluminum cans in your pantry contain BPA that could be leaching into your food. Do what you will with the information, but if you decide to throw out all your canned goods, please donate it to a food bank, (Is possibly BPA tainted food better than no food? I think yes.) or at least recycle the cans. If you want more information on BPA in aluminum cans, you can start here.
As if that weren’t enough, today I found out that an environmental group in California has found that several brands of juice and packaged fruit contain illegal amounts of lead. These brands range from small local juice companies to national giants and include both organic and non-organic products. All the products tested are marketed towards children. You can see the list of products tested here and get more information on the now formal case here.
So, another couple reasons to support local foods. And avoid buying canned goods, or anything in a plastic bottle. And start searching yard sales for a juicer. And figure out a way to grow your own apples. And make one of your kids major in chemistry so you can understand all this stuff.
Nicole put it best in her email response to me: “Ugh! Is there anything I can buy that won’t harm my child??”
Filed under: Around the House, Go Green, Health, Health & Fitness · Tags: BPA in aluminum cans, Lead in Juice, Lead in packaged fruit
5 Responses to "Time to Kick the Can?"
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Grab My Button!
Good article. I have known about the cans for some time. But the latest info about the lead in the lengthy list of juice is very troubling!!
Sometimes it seems like we are better off not knowing. Such a scary world we live in. Fresh and local are the best. Perhaps this will help me to become more motivated about cooking and eating from scratch.
Thank you for the heads up. I totally agree with Nicole, though. Is there anything safe that I can buy that she can eat and WILL eat? Seriously, apple juice now? Eesh.
Ok…this bums me out. I swear there isn’t anything left that’s not bad for you. I need a bigger garden so I can just eat out of the backyard!
[…] apprehensive about what would be presented to us. If you’ve read my past posts like this or this, you might know that I am a little on the “obsessive” side when it comes to food […]