Major food companies still frequently use Bisphenol A (BPA) to coat cans, says The Guardian, but a new study is helping to change that. Two out of three food cans were lined with BPA in a new study that looked at 200 cans from “food giants” Campbell Soup Company, Del Monte and General Mills, as well as from private store labels. The findings compelled Campbell and Del Monte to announce that they would be moving away from BPA lining in their cans.
For its part, Del Monte has promised to remove the chemical from all fruit and tomato products and most of its vegetable items, a process that will begin in May and be finalized by October. Campbell Soup has pledged to completely remove BPA from all its cans by 2017, including those under its subsidiary products Spaghetti0s pasta and Swanson broth. The company will instead turn to polyester and acrylic-based linings.
BPA is used to harden the plastic in bottles and form a dividing layer between food and the metal in cans. But some researchers warn that the chemical affects the human reproductive system and the brains of small children, and may cause “a host of other illnesses and disorders including breast cancer, heart disease, adult obesity and behavioral problems in children,” says the Guardian. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has maintained that the levels of BPA in commercial canned foods are safe.