Are Your Canned Foods Safe To Eat?: A BPA-Free Buying Guideby
Mark Sisson Recently by Mark Sisson: What Is Inflammation?
By now, you're undoubtedly aware of BPA, or bisphenol A, and its ubiquitous presence in can liners, plastics, and even receipts. I wrote about its status as a xenoestrogen with the ability to interact with hormonal receptors in animal bodies, as well as its potentially deleterious effects on humans especially tiny growing humans and the general takeaway is that avoiding BPA as much as possible is in all our best interests. We can't avoid everything, but we can do a fairly good job of it. Luckily, the consumers (that's you) have spoken up loud enough to get companies to pay attention to the way they line their cans so that while BPA remains a pervasive issue, more and more BPA-free products are being introduced. This is good, but which ones are BPA-free isn't always evident. Grocery stores don't generally have a BPA-free section (how awesome would that be?) and some (like Trader Joe's) don't even put the label on their products. Hence this post. What follows is my attempt at a comprehensive BPA-free list of commonly sought-after Primal foods. I tried to shoot for products that are widely available online, but I wasn't always able. You'll also note that I stuck to Primal-friendly foods; I didn't think mentioning the latest BPA-free can of fried gluten with peanuts made much sense, ya know? In any case, here's the list! Coconut MilkObviously, the best BPA-free coconut product is the coconut itself. Mother nature has always used BPA-free lining (she was way ahead of the curve), so you can safely eat fresh coconut and coconut oil and make coconut milk from the fresh meat and you'll be fine. But not everyone has ready access to fresh coconut, nor does everyone have the time (or the machete) to open up a coconut and process it into milk. For everyone else, the historic go-to option for coconut products has almost invariably come in a can lined with ample amounts of BPA. Not anymore: Native Forest Coconut Milk BPA-free and proud of it, Native Forest offers an organic coconut milk widely available for sale in bulk via Amazon. I've never tried it myself, but the reviews as you can see from the Amazon link are quite mixed. They apparently source the coconuts from various locales, with Thailand producing the best milk and Sri Lanka producing inferior milk. Again, I don't know personally, but keep that in mind before you order two dozen cans.
Aroy-D Coconut Milk and Cream My personal favorite, Aroy-D, comes straight from Thailand (which has the best coconuts, in my opinion) and contains nothing but coconut and water. The tetra-pak versions are completely BPA-free, and the best product is the large quart sized box of coconut cream (which you can treat like a higher-fat milk), but the milk, which comes in both quart and single-serving sizes, is also delicious (but a bit lower in fat, about 2 grams per serving worth). I get mine at the local Asian supermarkets for about 3 bucks a quart. Trader Joe's Light Coconut Milk I had to call and confirm with the manager of my local Trader Joe's, but these cans do not contain BPA. The only downside is that they contain "light" coconut milk, which means they have a lower fat content. Not so great for curries, but pretty good for drinking straight or making smoothies. They're also free of thickeners or weird gums. Coconut Cream Concentrate in a glass jar It ain't milk, but sources say that adding warm water to the coconut cream concentrate will produce a rich, creamy coconut milk. And it's a glass jar, so you don't have to worry about BPA at all (though I suppose the lid might have it). Here are US and Canadian links. International shipping is available through the US site, too. Tomato ProductsIf you remember from that older BPA post, canned tomato is one of the worst offenders when it comes to BPA exposure. It's highly acidic, making BPA in cans "essential." And yet, tomato is a wonderful, even essential food. So what to do? Bite the BPA-emblazoned bullet and eat them anyway? No. You can can your own tomatoes, but other, safer commercial options are out there: Pomi Chopped Tomatoes Pomi Chopped Tomatoes, out of Italy (where I hear they know a thing or two about tomatoes), comes in a BPA-free tetra-pak. Word on the street is that although they aren't certified organic, they are in everything but name. Bionaturae Tomato Paste and Strained Tomatoes This is the brand I currently use. The paste is incredible it comes in a glass jar (with a BPA-free lid, which is an important point that some people miss, especially when dealing with acidic, BPA-leaching foods like tomatoes; not all glass jars use BPA-free lids), contains nothing but tomatoes, and can be eaten (and often is) straight out of the jar. These are a bit dangerous, because they're somewhat pricey and I can easily eat an entire jar in a sitting. Maybe I should say "standing," because I usually find myself polishing one off while I'm cooking in the kitchen. I've taken to stocking up on these. The strained tomatoes are also good and come in similarly BPA-free packaging. Members of Tropical Traditions can get better deals in bulk, I believe. I highly recommend this brand. January 14, 2012 Copyright © 2012 Mark's Daily Apple
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