NPR: Consumer Reports Finds BPA Common In Canned Foods

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009/11/by_scott_hensley_the_jury.html

By Scott Hensley

The jury is still out on just how risky the ubiquitous plastic additive bisphenol A is for people.

But for those of you who like to worry, Consumer Reports just published results from tests of a bunch of canned foods that revealed some pretty high readings in such pantry favorites as green beans and vegetable soup.

How, you might ask, does BPA wind up in metal cans? Which foods tested worst? And what should be done?

We put those questions to Dr. Urvashi Rangan, a toxicologist in charge of technical policy for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports.

First, she said, metal cans have plastic liners to protect food, and some of them, such as common epoxy-based materials contain BPA. The liner can be white, yellow or transparent. "You can't look in a metal can and say whether BPA is there or not," she told us. "You just have to assume it's there unless it's noted otherwise."

FULL story at link.

[onehandle]

1. Lemme guess. Chinese cans will be the biggest culprit. nt

[FarCenter]

2. BPA is a standard component in food and beverage can coatings

The inside of the can is coated with an epoxy resin to keep the contents from interacting with the metal can.

[elocs]

3. How many of the products or additives we have used for 50 years

have taken a generation to show up as health problems? How about things such as the apparent huge increase in kids with ADD or ADHD, could they be caused or exacerbated by environment products of chemical additives that took decades to finally reach a critical mass to cause health problems?