Lately I’ve read several articles and blogs about bisphenol-A (BPA) being used in canned goods. Examples include an article in the Huffington Post, Consumer Reports and an article by the editor of Prevention Magazine. The issues with BPA’s being used in canned foods are they can leach into the food.
According to Liz Vaccariello of Prevention Magazine canned tomatoes can have a lot of BPA due to the high acidity of the tomatoes. Apparently the high acidity causes more of the BPA to transfer to the food. As a result Liz Vaccariello recommends that people concerned with this do not purchase tomatoes in cans, and purchase them in glass jars instead. This is a good idea, but I’d like to expand on this. Just because a product such as canned tomatoes, salsa or marinara sauce is in a glass bottle doesn’t mean it doesn’t have high amounts of BPA. For example it’s possible that a bottle of salsa at the grocery store is made with crushed tomatoes that were packaged in #10 metal cans before being produced into salsa. The larger manufacturers most likely purchase their tomatoes in large plastic drums or totes, however some smaller companies do purchase canned tomatoes in #10 cans. If concerned about BPA’s showing up in glass containers you’re probably fine if it’s a large manufacturer. However, if it’s a small company and you’re concerned about BPA, it may be a good idea to contact the company and ask if they purchase their tomatoes in BPA free containers.
The fact that BPA could be transferred into ingredients before the final product is manufactured made me think of something else. A lot of ingredients such as fruit juices, vinegar, and olive oil are stored in plastic drums or totes before being manufactured into the final product. This made me wonder if these drums contain BPA and could contaminate our ingredients at Simply Boulder Culinary Sauces. I looked into this and luckily the plastic drums we use are made with HDPE which doesn’t contain BPA.
To sum everything up, just because a product comes in a glass bottle or jar does not mean it doesn’t have BPA. It’s possible that one of the ingredients such as crushed tomatoes could have come to the manufacturer in #10 metal cans. As I mentioned this is very unlikely for medium and large manufacturers, but it’s not uncommon for very small manufactures to order some ingredients in metal cans. I’m hoping that one day BPA will be banned from metal cans, but until then it’s best to try ask questions if unsure.
Comments on this entry are closed.