After I read a blog post written by a prominent health expert pointing out a frightening link between canned foods (well, one canned food in particular) and major health problems, I squirmed a little. Really? Here's the info and what our expert had to say about the controversy ...
Liz Vaccariello, editor-in-chief of Prevention magazine wrote a fascinating blog post over on Yahoo Shine recently about the foods that top health experts won't touch with a 10-foot pole, and there were some surprising foods that made the list, like canned foods:
Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A, says he refuses to eat food from cans, namely canned tomatoes. Here's why:
"The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. 'You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young,' says vom Saal. 'I won't go near canned tomatoes.'
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Vaccariello recommends choosing tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings) like the Bionaturae and Coluccio brands. Trader Joe's also sells tomatoes in Tetra Paks.
But really? How concerned should we be about this warning? I asked Melina Jampolis, M.D., a doctor who specializes in nutrition and healthy eating, and who also happens to be a health expert along with Sanjay Gupta for CNN. Here's what she had to say:
"The data on bisphenol A and levels that are toxic in adult humans is not conclusive so until it is, I think the much bigger problem is the 66 percent of Americans who are overweight or obese, and the fact that the majority of them are not eating fruits and especially vegetables everyday so I would hate to discourage people from eating an inexpensive and readily available year-round source of vegetables like canned tomatoes," she says. "Because of the bisphenol A potential, I would not feed them daily to a baby or pregnant of nursing women but using them in a homemade turkey chili or health vegetable soup once a week should really not be a problem in my opinion."
Interesting topic huh? What are your thoughts on canned foods and canned tomatoes in particular?
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