Consumer Reports Finds BPA in Nearly All Canned Food Samples

This is a very big deal.

In the wake of a new Consumer Reports study that found BPA in common, name-brand canned goods, The Breast Cancer Fund, Clean WaterAction, Clean New York, Center for Health, Environment & Justice, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Oregon Toxics Alliance and other environmental health advocates support Consumers Union's call for the FDA to immediately act to protect consumers from BPA. Read the full CU press release is here (and check out the link to the findings, listing the products to avoid!)

Here is an excerpt:

Consumer Reports’ latest tests of canned foods, including soups, juice, tuna, and green beans, have found that almost all of the 19 name-brand foods tested contain measurable levels of Bisphenol A (BPA). The new findings show that BPA can be found in a diverse assortment of canned foods including those labeled “organic,” and even in some foods packaged in “BPA-free” cans. Consumer Reports’ tests of a few comparable products in alternative types of packaging showed lower levels of BPA in most, but not all cases. The results are reported in the December 2009 issue and are also available free online at www.ConsumerReports.org. “The findings are noteworthy because they indicate the extent of potential exposure,” said Dr. Urvashi Rangan, Director of Technical Policy, at Consumers Union, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. “Children eating multiple servings per day of canned foods with BPA levels comparable to the ones we found in some tested products could get a dose of BPA near levels that have caused adverse effects in several animal studies. The lack of any safety margin between the levels that cause harm in animals and those that people could potentially ingest from canned foods has been inadequately addressed by the FDA to date.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is soon expected to announce the findings of its most recent reassessment of the safety of BPA. Consumers Union hopes it will remedy some of the deficiencies of its previous analysis. BPA has been linked to a wide array of health effects including reproductive abnormalities, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, and heart disease.

Toxic BPA is a problem - it's used to line canned foods - even ORGANIC canned food - tomatoes, soups & more. It's linked to breast cancer & testicular cancer. Protect your health - return your risky canned goods to your grocer.

The CU Reports article in the December 2009 issue is here.

In September, I attended a conference in Burlington, VT, "A Critical Link," sponsored by Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, where we heard from national leading experts in the field of environmental health talking about the effects of toxins on men, women and children. Along with other toxins that effect our health, the use of BPA was mentioned. CCTV Channel 17 in Burlington has on-line Part 1 and Part 2 of the conference. Highly recommended! If you are in Burlington, Channel 17 will also rebroadcast Part 1 at 2:00 PM and Part 2 at 3:41 PM on Sunday November 8.