Sunday 15 January 2012

That White Lining in Commercial Tinned Foods

For quite some time we've been aware that the nice-looking white lining in cans/tins of tomatoes, beans, baby foods, fruits etc contains something called BPA or bisphenol-A which has been linked to many modern day diseases such as cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes...it is an endocrine disruptor and mimics our hormones :( I honestly don't understand how these things work but I do see that they should be avoided.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/bpa-lurks-in-canned-soups-and-drinks/

The following is from 2002...10 years ago and it's still here! It is a US report and I am having great difficulty finding out  about brands available to us here in Australia.

"Fredrick Vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A, gives us the scoop:

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."

The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe's and Pomi."

I rarely buy tinned soups, perhaps 2 tins of tomato soup per annum but we use a lot of tinned tomatoes and beans so I'm going to start a list here of "safe" brands and add to it as I try different products. I've noticed that most of the Italian brands don't have this lining. The ideal situation would be to switch to only using these products when they come in glass jars/bottles but that's not always a financial option and even though I have a electric Vacola canner I can't get enough cheap tomatoes to use it!



The List Of Brands To Avoid

Coles own brand tomatoes(at 80c a can a great deal but not with the added extras!)
Coles Smart Brand Mushy Green Peas
Aldi Organic Tomatoes
La Gina Tomatoes
Black and Gold Tomatoes
Carpeccio Chick peas have a 1cm line of white inside the can, over the join

White Lining Free Brands

Riviana, 2.5 kgs
Ardmona Crushed Tomatoes


Will post this now and edit it as I find out more.

Bon Appetit!
xxx

2 comments:

  1. Hi there. Ardmona tomatoes do have BPA lining in their cans. The body of the can doesn't, but the bottom of the can does have the BPA lining. Today I went and bought the crushed, chopped and whole tomatos from Ardmona, and they all had the lined panel in the bottom of the can.

    Ardmona have confirmed this on facebook here: https://ja-jp.facebook.com/Ardmona/posts/435574036472127

    Unfortunately it looks like we still don't have BPA-free canned tomatoes that I can find. I bought a food blender instead, and now buy fresh tomatos and do it myself. It's inconvenient but at least it's safe!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I see that on the Down To Earth Forum, some people are cooking and freezing dried beans. I was thinking about doing that.
    I was lucky enough to be given a lot of tomatoes last year and dried some and froze some. I think that I will try and do it again, even if I have to buy a case of tomatoes. I am growing a lot but they are taking their time to ripen and we think that we will eat most

    ReplyDelete