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Certain Canned Foods
Contain High Levels of BPA Chemical Toxin
By the Whole Body
Health
Staff
The food processing
world
is reeling right now after a shocking new series of tests released in
the current issue of Consumer Reports
revealed that many leading brands of canned foods contain bisphenol-A
(BPA)—a toxic
chemical linked to health risks including reproductive abnormalities,
neurological effects, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers,
diabetes, heart disease and other problems.
BPA is used in the lining of cans, and the toxin leaches from the
lining into the food. According to Consumer Reports, just a couple of
servings of canned food can exceed scientific limits on daily exposure
for children and expectant mothers.
But fetuses and infants are not the only ones at risk. Researchers are
also finding that BPA exposure can affect teenagers and adults as well.
There are more than 100 independent studies linking the chemical to
serious disorders in humans, including: prostate cancer; breast cancer;
diabetes;
early puberty; obesity; and learning problems.
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MESSING WITH YOUR IMMUNITY
According to the research doctors, “Based on the type of
invader, your immune system activates either Th1 or Th2 cells to get
rid of the pathogen. Th1 (T Helper 1) attacks organisms that get inside
your cells, whereas Th2
(T Helper 2) goes after extracellular pathogens; organisms that are
found outside the cells, in your blood and other body fluids.”
When your Th2 cells are over-activated, your immune system will
over-respond to toxins, allergens, normal bacteria and parasites, and
under-respond to viruses, yeast, cancer and intracellular bacteria.When
one system activates, the other is blocked.
BPA BANNED
The chemical bisphenol-A, which has been used for years in making 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 BPA, which some studies have
linked to reproductive abnormalities and a heightened risk of various
other ailments.
Now 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 BPA. Furthermore, the canned organic foods tested did not always
have lower BPA levels than nonorganic brands of similar foods analyzed.
Testers even found
the chemical in some products in cans that were labeled
“BPA-free.”
The federal government is currently studying the dangers of BPA, and
health advocates are calling on the FDA to ban the use of BPA in food
and beverage packaging by the end of the year. Companies in other
industries,
including Wal-Mart, Target, Nalgene and Babies R Us, have already made
commitments to stop using BPA.
THE WORST OFFENDERS
According to Consumer Reports
testing, the levels of BPA can vary greatly from one can to another,
which makes sense when we consider that the BPA leaches from the
lining, and a variety of factors, such as heat, can
influence the rate of contamination.
In general, canned green beans and canned soups had some of the highest
BPA levels of the foods tested. The worst offenders during their tests
included: Del Monte fresh cut green beans, which had BPA levels ranging
from 35.9 ppb to as much as 191 ppb; Progresso vegetable soup had BPA
levels ranging from 67 to 134 ppb; Campbell’s condensed
chicken noodle soup, which had BPA levels
ranging from 54.5 to 102 ppb.
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(Issue
# 49 & 50, December 7 & 14,
2009)
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