A friend of my mother wrote Muir Glen lately asking “why aren’t your tomatoes in jars since cans have BPA, which is detrimental to our health, in the lining?”
This was their response:
Dear Valued Consumer,
Thank you for contacting Muir Glen regarding bisphenol-A in food packaging. Bisphenol-A is a critical component of protective coatings used with metal food packaging and provides important quality and safety features to canned foods.
Scientific and government bodies worldwide have examined the scientific evidence and consistently have reached the conclusion that BPA is not a risk to human health. Recent examples include comprehensive risk assessments in Japan and Europe and a review by an independent panel of experts organized by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis. The can coatings used in Muir Glen packaging comply with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements for use in food contact applications. These coatings have long played an essential part in food preservation, helping to maintain wholesomeness, nutritional value, and product quality.
We work closely with our suppliers to ensure that all of the food ingredients and packaging materials we use are fully in compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements and meet our high quality standards.
We will continue to monitor this situation. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us. Your questions and comments are always welcome. For more information on the safety of metal food containers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration press office may be contacted at (301) 436-2335.
Sincerely,
Bobbi Hart
Consumer Services
Consumer Services
My response to this is that if Muir Glen won’t sell tomatoes in jars, then buy from a manufacturer that will (Bionaturae sells tomato paste and puree in jars, although they also sell canned tomatoes that we avoid) and use fresh tomatoes when you can. We hardly use canned tomatoes anymore in our home because of the BPA in their can linings.
Posted by Heather @ Life, gluten free on December 29, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Thanks for sharing this info. They just lost a costumer!
Posted by Vicki on October 12, 2011 at 12:15 pm
I called Muir Glen asking about the status of their can linings. Customer service was not very helpful, a bit defensive when asked about their currents linings, unapologetic about the fact that they’ve used bpa in their linings for years, and basically not very customer friendly. I will only buy from a company that is COMMiTTED to health and cares about the consumer buying their products. They just lost a second customer.