Concerns about canned foods

Worcester Telegram & Gazette: "Consumer Reports’ latest tests of canned foods, including soups, juice, tuna and green beans, have found that almost all of the 19 name-brand foods tested contain some of the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA).

BPA, which has been used for years in clear plastic bottles and food-can liners, has been restricted in Canada and some U.S. states and municipalities because of potential health effects. The Food and Drug Administration will soon decide what it considers a safe level of exposure to the chemical, which some studies have linked to reproductive abnormalities and a heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes and heart disease. The debate revolves around just what is a safe level of the chemical to ingest and whether it should be in contact with food.

CR’s tests convey a snapshot of the marketplace and do not provide a general conclusion about BPA levels in any particular brand or type of product tested. Levels in the same product purchased at different places or in other brands of similar foods might differ from CR’s test results. CR tested three different samples of each canned item for BPA and found:"