A BPA Primer: Uncontaminated Brands to Include in Your Preps

Posted date: October 08, 2012 In: Food Storage, Threats | comment : 2

In July, the Food and Drug Administration finally decided to ban Bisphenol A (BPA) from bottles and sippy cups. They did that to boost consumer confidence, and that was it. Avoid all brands but these in your canned goods.

BPA: Regulation at the Speed of Profit Decrease

People who track the progress of BPA regulation are the same people who like glacier racing as a spectator sport. In July, as you should know, the FDA finally banned BPA from baby drinking containers because the American Chemistry Council (the lobbyists who’ve kept BPA in our bodies all these years) decided they would voluntarily do the ban and so it would make a good show if it became an official rule. I’m not being cynical (this time), even the New York Times says that’s how it is. Hey, now that’s progress – it only took the FDA two years from the 2010 reversal of their previous “BPA is safe” mantra to get it out of sippy cups. Consumer safety at the speed of light, friends.

Of course, if we’re all agreed it shouldn’t be in sippy cups, then it probably shouldn’t be in baby food or in food for our more grown citizens. Yeah, well, still a lot of money to be made with BPA – an article from 2009 reported BPA to be a $6 billion dollar-a-year industry. More human sacrifices made by the Church of Money, not too much new with that.

BPA in your Preps: Good Brands

So, BPA is in canned food and, if you’re like me, you like having canned food on hand. I know, fresh is best and healthiest. I don’t want to can my own tuna, sorry. So what brands have less poison?

Amy’s ~ tomato-based soups ⁴
Bionaturea ~ tomatoes ³
Eden Foods ~ beans, refried beans, chilies, rice & beans¹ not tomatoes ⁴
ConAgra, which includes Chef Boyardee, Hunt’s, and Healthy Choice ~ tomatoes (isn’t that amazing?)²
Edward & Sons brand Native Forest Fruit & Vegetables ³
Trader Joe’s ~ corn, beans, fish, poultry, canned beef¹ and tomatoes³ plus coconut milk, fruit except mandarins, vegetables except artichokes, and not baked beans⁴
H.J. Heinz ~ infant food cans²
Hain Celestial, which has brands Health Valley, Earth’s Best, and Westbrae Natural ~ infant food cans²
Nature’s One ~ organic powdered baby milks ⁴
Seafood: Vital Choice, Oregon’s Choice, Wild Planet, Eco Fish (well, they’re trying)¹

¹ http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/7-companies-you-can-trust-to-use-bpa-free-cans.html, http://www.willystreet.coop/BPA
² http://www.greencentury.com/bpareport, http://www.greencentury.com/bpareport2010.pdf
³ http://safemama.com/cheatsheets/cheat-sheet-bpa-free-canned-food/
⁴ http://inspirationgreen.com/bpa-lined-cans.html

You shouldn’t go with any other companies for your canned or plastic-wrapped food. Look at that greencentury report for the worst offenders, and also to get a grip on what their timelines were back in 2010 for making more products safer. Don’t trust the timeline, though, the 2012 articles I looked at didn’t mention that any of those promised foods making it to BPA free. Also, that inspirationgreen.com article makes a few pointers on things besides canned goods.

Concerned Afterthought #1: Please do understand that food wrapped in plastic should be always regarded as contaminated, and you should generally avoid it as part of your regular diet.

Paranoid Afterthought #2: Isn’t it interesting that government allows a chemical that has been found to disrupt sex hormones into the food of its citizens, that it seeks to keep passive?