Consumer Reports: Tests Find Wide Range of Bisphenol A in Canned Soups, Juice, and More

Consumer Reports: Tests Find Wide Range of Bisphenol A in Canned Soups, Juice,
and More

Highest Levels of BPA Were Detected in Some Samples of Green Beans and Soups

For Some People, Dietary Exposure Could Approach Levels Shown to Cause Harm in
Animal Studies; FDA's Safety Standards for BPA Inadequate and Out of Date

YONKERS, N.Y., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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 measurable
levels of Bisphenol A (BPA). The new findings show that BPA can be found in a
diverse assortment of canned foods including those labeled "organic," and even
in some foods packaged in "BPA-free" cans. Consumer Reports' tests of a few
comparable products in alternative types of packaging showed lower levels of
BPA in most, but not all cases. The results are reported in the December 2009
issue and are also available free online at www.ConsumerReports.org.

"The findings are noteworthy because they indicate the extent of potential
exposure," said Dr. Urvashi Rangan, Director of Technical Policy, at Consumers
Union, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. "Children eating multiple
servings per day of canned foods with BPA levels comparable to the ones we
found in some tested products could get a dose of BPA near levels that have
caused adverse effects in several animal studies. The lack of any safety
margin between the levels that cause harm in animals and those that people
could potentially ingest from canned foods has been inadequately addressed by
the FDA to date."

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is soon expected to announce the
findings of its most recent reassessment of the safety of BPA. Consumers
Union hopes it will remedy some of the deficiencies of its previous analysis.
BPA has been linked to a wide array of health effects including reproductive
abnormalities, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, and
heart disease.

Consumers Union has previously called on manufacturers and government agencies
to act to eliminate the use of BPA in all materials that come in contact with
food and beverages. Given Consumer Reports' new finding, Consumers Union sent
a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg reiterating its request that the
agency act this year to ban the use of BPA in food- and beverage-contact
materials.

Consumer Reports' tests convey a snapshot of the marketplace and do not
provide a general conclusion about the levels of BPA in any particular brand
or type of product tested. Levels in the same product purchased at different
types or places or in other brands of similar foods might differ from Consumer
Reports' test results. Consumer Reports tested three different samples of each
canned item for BPA and found:

Highest levels of BPA in our tests were found in some samples of canned green
beans and canned soups.

-- Canned Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans Blue Lake had the highest
amount
of BPA for a single sample in Consumer Reports tests, with levels
ranging from 35.9 parts per billion (ppb) to 191 ppb. Progresso
Vegetable Soup BPA levels ranged from 67 to 134 ppb. Campbell's
Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup had BPA levels ranging from 54.5 to 102
ppb.

-- Average amounts in tested products varied widely. In most items
tested,
such as canned corn, chili, tomato sauce, and corned beef, BPA levels
ranged from trace amounts to about 32 ppb.

Given the significance of BPA exposure for infants and young children,
Consumer Reports tested samples of Similac Advance Infant Formula and Nestle
Juicy Juice All Natural 100% Apple Juice. The findings revealed:

-- Similac liquid concentrate in a can averaged 9 ppb of BPA, but there
was
no measurable level in the powdered version.

-- Nestle Juicy Juice in a can averaged 9.7 ppb of BPA, but there were no
measurable levels in the samples of the same product packaged in juice
boxes.

"The BPA levels in our samples of Nestle Juicy Juice, at about 9 ppb, were not
among the highest in the foods we tested. However, considering how many
servings of juice young children may consume daily, a child still could exceed
a level that Consumers Union thinks would provide an adequate margin of
safety," said Dr. Rangan.

Bypassing metal cans in favor of other packaging such as plastic containers or
bags might lower but not eliminate exposure to BPA, but this wasn't true for
all products tested.

-- Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup in plastic packaging contained
detectable
amounts of BPA but at levels that were significantly lower than the
same
brand of soup in the can. StarKist Chunk Light canned tuna averaged 3
ppb of BPA, but BPA levels in the same brand in a plastic pouch
weren't
measurable.
-- Bird's Eye Steam Fresh Cut Green Beans, frozen in a plastic bag,
contained very low levels of BPA, about 1 ppb or less.

-- However, in one item tested, the alternative packaging contained
higher
levels of BPA than the canned version. Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli in
Tomato and Meat Sauce packaged in a plastic container with a metal
peel-off lid had BPA levels 1.5 times higher than the same brand of
food
in metal cans.

BPA was found in some products packaged in cans that claimed to be "BPA-free."

-- Although tests of the inside of the cans found that the liners were
not
epoxy-based, suggesting BPA was not used, samples of Vital Choice's
tuna
in "BPA-free" cans were found to contain an average of 20 ppb of BPA
and
those of Eden Baked Beans in "BPA-free" cans averaged 1 ppb BPA.

BPA, which has been used for years in clear plastic bottles and food-can
liners, has been restricted in Canada and some U.S. states and municipalities
because of potential health effects. But, there are no federal restrictions
on BPA in food packaging. Federal guidelines currently put the daily upper
limit of safe exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight.
But that level is based on experiments done in the 1980s rather than hundreds
of more recent animal and laboratory studies indicating that serious health
risks could result from much lower doses of BPA. Several animal studies show
adverse effects, such as abnormal reproductive development, at exposures of
2.4 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight per day, a dose that could
be reached from a person eating one or a few servings daily or an adult daily
diet that includes multiple servings of canned foods containing BPA levels
comparable to some of the foods Consumer Reports tested.

In keeping with established practices that ensure an adequate margin of safety
for human exposure, Consumer Reports' food-safety scientists recommend
limiting daily exposure to BPA to one-thousandth of that level, or 0.0024
micrograms per kilogram of body weight, significantly lower than FDA's current
safety limit.

An FDA special scientific advisory panel reported in late 2008 that the
agency's basis for setting safety standards to protect consumers was
inadequate and should be reevaluated. A congressional subcommittee determined
in 2009 that the agency relied too heavily on studies sponsored by the
American Plastics Council. The FDA, now under the leadership of Dr. Margaret
Hamburg, is expected to announce soon its reassessment of BPA safety. Bills
are currently pending in Congress that would ban the use of BPA in all food
and beverage containers. Industry has been waging a fight against new
regulations.

Almost a decade ago, Consumers Union was one of the first consumer groups to
test BPA in baby bottles, and to warn consumers about its potential dangers.
Consumers Union calls on manufacturers and government agencies to act to
eliminate the use of BPA in all materials that come into contact with food.
Consumers who are concerned might be able to reduce, though not necessarily
eliminate, their dietary exposure to BPA by taking the following steps:

-- Choose fresh food whenever possible.
-- Consider alternatives to canned food, beverages, juices, and infant
formula.

-- Use glass containers when heating food in microwave ovens.

The December issue of Consumer Reports is available wherever magazines are
sold.

DECEMBER 2009
The material above is intended for legitimate news entities only; it may not
be used for commercial or promotional purposes. Consumer Reports® is published
by Consumers Union, an expert, independent nonprofit organization whose
mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers
and to empower consumers to protect themselves. To achieve this mission, we
test, inform, and protect. To maintain our independence and impartiality,
Consumers Union accepts no outside advertising, no free test samples, and has
no agenda other than the interests of consumers. Consumers Union supports
itself through the sale of our information products and services, individual
contributions, and a few noncommercial grants.

SOURCE Consumer Reports

Naomi Starkman, +1-917-539-3924, nstarkman@gmail.com, for Consumer Reports