6 Steps to Avoiding BPA in Your Daily Life

cp418

http://www.fastcompany.com/1743599/this-is-how-to-avoid-bpa-in-your-daily-life

peggy_j

Thanks for posting this. I've been trying to avoid BPA and it took me weeks to make the connection on the coffee maker (hot water + plastic = BPA).  I heard the BPA doesn't stay in your body long (flushed out in 3 days?) so that seems like good news. If we make changes today our body will see the benefits right away. BTW, I've googled around to learn about canned foods. It seems like Eden Organics is one of the few companies that sells foods in cans w/o BPA.  They cost more at health food stores but...I found that if you buy them on Amazon the price comes down quit a bit (seems crazy to buy canned foods on the internet, but I guess it's a rational reaction to an irrational situation.)

mdg

I too am avoiding BPA if I can.  I am Italian and giving up tomatoes (canned to make sauce) would be torture.  I was able to find Pomi brand tomatoes that come in a carton.  They are now available at Meijer.  They are not organic, but they come from Italy and I hope they use less pesticides there than here.....???  I have been searching for BPA free tomatoes and that has been difficult.  I did read that Muir Glenn was suppose to start using BPA free cans on their tomatoes/foods but I did not see anything on the labels indicating that.  I need to check back on their website and see if any information is listed.  I have also given up canned beans......most of those contain BPA too!  Now I will venture to buying dried beans.  I don't buy too much that is canned....I try to buy stuff in jars at least knowing that if the lid contains BPA it would be less than a full can containing BPA.  I do usually buy fresh or frozen organic when I can so cans are minimal in my pantry.  I even started buying frozen artichokes as they are mostly canned - some stores have them in a jar.  I love artichokes!  Trader Joe's sells them frozen.  Any other brands you have found that are using BPA free packaging?  Please share....thanks!

peggy_j

mdg, You're right, there aren't a lot of options, even at the health food store. You have as much info on tomatoes as I do. (I buy my Eden Organics beans from Amazon. weird)  I used this list (below) as a starting point for bpa-free canned foods (and then did my own research):

 http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/7-bpa-free-canned-foods.php

In theory, Trade Joes sells some items in bpa-free cans. I had to go through a couple of rounds of emails  before they'd tell me which ones. That, combined with the fact that they won't label them as bpa-free made me decide to boycott their canned foods.

One website lists which foods have the highest bpa-content (I believe it's the breast cancer fund. If you can't find it, send me a msg). Worst offenders are foods that are high in acid (tomatoes), sodium (canned soups) and fat (canned coconut milk).

In other bpa-living, I swapped my Mr. Coffee for an old school stainless steal percolator.  I've tossed my plastic leftover containers and bought good pyrex ones with bpa-free lids. etc. It took a little work to get set up but now that's it done it's easy (and honestly, the pyrex leftover containers are much nicer than my old crappy plastic ones. ha!)

Nordy

And if you think that BPA free plastic is safe, think again:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1733715/bpa-free-plastics-still-leach-estrogen-like-chemical 

We did the same as Peggy and tossed all of our plastic containers (except a few that we keep around when we need to send food home with someone and don't want/need our containers back) and purchased pyrex ones. Then we also bought stainless steel straws (my kids love to drink from a straw, but I don't know that that plastic is safe either) and try to buy our milk in glass jugs that the store returns to the dairy for re-use. It is not easy to make all these changes... but what else can we do? My girls have BC history on both sides, so I try to do what I can to eliminate other carcinogens as much as possible. And as far as the tomatoes from Italy go - it is my understanding (and if anyone lives there and knows for sure, hopefully they will chime in) that Europe does not use/allow nearly the amount/types of pesticides that the FDA allows in the US. It is a disgrace what our govt. allows in our food...

peggy_j

Nordy, thanks for posting that article (wish they had more data though). Yeah, when I talked to my hubby a  few months ago, he said that it's likely that we'll hear bad news about other plastics too--I just didn't expect it to be so soon!!!  I've been avoiding straws too. (yesterday I got an iced coffee in a plastic cup and w/ a straw. I think that's the last iced coffee unless I make it at home) I'm glad I'm switching as much as I can, but I have to do better. I'm using wax paper instead of plastic wrap.  I think it's time to switch the milk carton.

Not to give a plug to Odwalla, but did you see their drink bottles are made from "100% renewable material from plants"? This is the second drink maker that is using plant-based bottles instead of plastic (now if only Odwalla could switch to organic. arg!)

peggy_j

I just learned that there are bills pending to help stop some of these chemicals. (I haven't read the bills yet but I'm hoping the limit BPA). 

The Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Exposure Elimination Act of 2011
http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/endocrine.edlaw11.php