If you’re looking for alternatives to foods stored in cans lined with bisphenyl-A (BPA), they are available. Here are some I purchased recently from a local natural foods store–boxed tomatoes, tomato paste in glass jars, and even beans in glass jars. For more info on the risks of BPA, see the Dangers of Plastics post.
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Posted by JC on December 8, 2007 at 11:18 pm
Many/or all glass jars have lids with plastic liners that can leach especially into high acid foods like tomatoes/sauce.
I was very sad to return all my jars of Organic Ragu Tomatoe Sauce. Baby Food in glass jars has the highest ratio of contamination because the size of the lid compared to amount of food….google it. You’ll find it.
And curious, no idea what lines the boxes in boxed food like tomatoes? Cartons like milk or O. J…Haven’t looked that up yet.
Do we know which companies don’t use plastic to line things and is a metal lid unlined safe???
Thank you for your wonderful site!
Posted by Sophia on December 10, 2007 at 8:34 am
JC, thanks for sharing about the lids of glass containers. I’m wondering….. do the foods in jars even really make contact with the lid? I suppose for pureed foods like tomato sauce and baby food that they might. That is unfortunate! As for boxed foods, my guess is that the lining is aluminum (at least the boxed tomatoes seem to have a thin metal lining of some sort). As for boxed OJ and milk, that cardboard most certainly seems to have some sort of plastic coating. I have not looked into any of this issues in detail so unfortunately, I don’t have more info for you.
As for which companies don’t use BPA or plastic to line their food storage containers…… there’s really no way to know which companies do or don’t other than to contact them yourself and ask. I think it’s safe to assume that most tomato products are in cans lined with BPA because of their high acidity. Canned foods that contain water also tend to be lined with BPA because the fluoride in the water reacts with the can and needs some sort of barrier to prevent that. So canned soups are almost always lined with BPA. I think the safest option is to avoid canned foods when you can–use fresh tomatoes when possible, use dried beans instead of canned, etc. Hope that helps….
Posted by Health, Taken Seriously » Lids may not be safe on August 1, 2009 at 4:55 pm
[...] Australia is disapointing, as we are trying to use food stored in glass jars instead of cans in our home, but it’s good to [...]