And I wonder why I’m never hungry.
So you’ve probably already heard about this, but if you haven’t, I’ll just go ahead and be the bearer of bad news. You know all that canned food you bought to get through the apocalypse? Or maybe just so you could make a quick lunch when you forgot it was lunch and the kid was suddenly hungry? Well it’s probably going to kill you. Or at the very least, give your daughter boobs when she’s ten.
No doubt you’ve heard of bisphenol A, also known as “BPA.” Everyone I know has been diligently trying to avoid it by purchasing BPA-free containers to store food, pack lunches, and carry around drinking water. Well as it turns out, we’ve sort of been wasting our time because, surprise! It’s lining the inside of cans!
That’s right. There’s a chance that every can of vegetable soup you’ve ever peeled open (thinking it was so much better than McDonald’s) may make it harder for your daughter to have a baby some day. And that organic can of corn you busted out to create a more well-rounded dinner? It may have whacked out your son’s memory. And those cans of soda or beer you and your husband drink out of? Cancer. Of course. Because it’s always cancer.
I swear, it’s getting to the point where the only thing we’ll be able to eat is stuff grown in the backyard. And then we’ll probably find out the house was built on an old dumping site for melamine.
The Food and Drug Administration says that despite new research showing that a person who eats just one can of soup a day ingests significantly higher amounts of BPA than someone who doesn’t, the food from cans is safe. That’s right — the levels are safe. Remain calm. All is well.
Of course, there’s no conclusive research linking BPA with any adverse health consequences. Even though it just happens to act like estrogen. Which, if given to humans, just happens to make girls hit puberty much earlier than they normally would. Which, incidentally, sets you up for a whole host of other health issues like heart disease and diabetes. And estrogen also just happens to fuels breast cancer (yes, it probably killed my mother — so that’s nice).
And I know — correlation does not equal causation. But damn it, I’m just so sick and tired of yet another example of corporate greed. Because make no mistake, that’s exactly what this is. Eden Foods, one of very few companies I could find that doesn’t use cans lined with BPA, switched way back in 1999 when the owner found out about the potentially harmful effects. There IS a way to can without it. Canners haven’t ALWAYS used it. It’s just cheaper.
There is absolutely no way the food industry folks are going to make these changes on their own. They flat out deny the problem. The only way anything’s going to change is through government intervention (oh, look at me holding my breath) or all of us voting with our wallets.
At our house, we’ll be making a lot of soup this winter.
Tammy Soong is a writer, wife, and mom from Reno, Nevada. She takes an absurd amount of pain medication, but not enough to have actually named her children "Newt" and "Elfie." She spends most days stressing out over clutter, writing stuff for this place, and working on podcasts with her gal pals, the Blogging Betties.
Um, TGIF? This is not good news, and also makes me fear what else I might be ignorant about!
My recent post December!
Did you read about honey? I'm telling you, it all sucks. Oh, and it really pisses me off.
My recent post Time To Beef Up Security
Sorry. I know. That's exactly what I thought when I found out. I found articles dating back to 2008. Why didn't I know this. Why didn't we ALL know this?
I generally don't like to just throw out profanity for no good reason, but fuck. What's up with the honey.
Is this just a US thing, I wonder? I wonder if there's a way to find out if our Australian products are the same. Probably. Bastards like to follow you Americans (Oh, I say that with love. Honest) anywhere…
Scary! DO you know, I had no idea that early puberty led to things like diabetes. Might explain some things. I started puberty at 9.
I'm pretty sure it's everywhere. And what's really sad is that every government, except Japan's, seems to have come out and said, "Really, it's no big deal." And then here, of course, they ship us off and say, "Good luck finding health care!"
Estrogen is a rough hormone. When they were using it for post-menopausal women, they thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Of course, they were giving a bunch of people cancer, but hey, no hot flashes. Seems like a reasonable trade. . .
I wish that someone, anyone, in this damn country held themselves accountable for health and safety without being forced to or being sued. Oh, and I hate cancer too. But you knew that already. I make almost all our soup here from scratch for this (and many other) reasons.
My recent post Fashion Emergency
BPA is also in most carpet and upholstery stain-resistant coatings. So we're breathing in minute particles, as well as absorbing through touch. Enjoy!