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Hello, and welcome to Insider’s Health TV. Where we bring you the freshest happenings
in the world of medicine without the quack propaganda. Today we’ll be talking about
how the controversial chemical BPA may be lurking in your child-friendly canned foods.
BPA, or bisphenol A, is thought to cause all sorts of trouble for your system. Possible
cancers, developmental problems, and early onset puberty have all been linked to the
three-letter chemical, and most people are wise to stay away from it. While we know it
can be found in plastics, receipts, dental sealants, and even money, there might be an
even more dangerous place that BPA is hiding. Your kid’s food.
Researchers recently looked into canned foods that were specifically marketed to children,
because BPA seems to wreak the most havoc on the younger ones. The study included Campbell’s
‘Disney Princess’ soup and Annie’s Homegrown ‘Cheesy Ravioli,’ and found relatively
high levels of BPA in all of the tested cans. But for anything conclusive to come out, we
need to understand exactly what level of BPA affects the human system… and we don’t.
While many animal studies have shown definitive- and nasty- results, no one really knows how
much BPA is safe for a human to have. After the scare with water bottles and baby bottles,
plastic companies changed their procedures, but the canning industry would like to see
some sort of proof before they make broad decisions about their products. The thought
is that maybe we aren’t even close to approaching unsafe levels of the chemical, and all the
hoopla is for naught.
There is some good news about BPA, however, because it doesn’t last long in your system.
It flushes out much quicker than pesticides or mercury. But you still might want to steer
clear of cans even with the shortened shelf-life. After all, canned dinners are never really
healthy for you or your kids anyway.
So if the sodium and fat content don’t get you to stay away… maybe BPA is doing us
all a favor.
That’s it for this edition of Insider’s Health TV. I’m your host, Kimberly Walleston.
And remember: it’s your health. We’re just helping you think outside the docs.