It's been awhile since I have posted about BPA - Bisphenol A - so I thought I would do an update.
It is certainly the topic that I get the most consumer emails on.
I do have a little good news to report.
It seems like the can industry is moving towards using alternatives.
For the longest time, our canners - relying on information from the can industry - said "there is nothing wrong with BPA." When I would get these emails from my suppliers, I would write back and say "you are on the wrong side of the issue...you need to be looking at alternatives."
Of course, in reality, it isn't that simple.
The can manufacturers turn out - I don't know - hundreds of thousands of cans per day...maybe millions...all coated with BPA.
The canners themselves have huge warehouses - millions of square feet that I have walked through. Right now, with the harvest over, they have filled, unlabeled cans of tomatoes, corn and other vegetables. Then during the year, as they ship out product to the customers, they start buying empty cans to put in the warehouses, in anticipation of next year's crop.
In other words, none of these can manufacturers have the capability to produce a year's worth of cans in a week or two before next year's harvest. They are making cans year round.
So where are we at today?
A consumer wrote to me this morning "...Is there someplace I can go to find information on putting pressure on the can manufacturers? Do I just need to be hassling my grocers, or are they at the mercy of their distributors..."
The can manufacturers are the ones in the middle. They have heard, loud and clear, that they need to start using alternatives to BPA. We have been told that a certain percentage of our Organic Tomato cans are BPA free...maybe 20%. We were also told that we can't order product to come in with BPA free cans...that it is going to take a year for the old cans to work their way through the system.
As to putting pressure on the can industry....it isn't just us - the organic folk - that want BPA free cans. They are hearing it from Wal Mart and the other big guys. The main difference, though, is we are telling our suppliers that they can increase our cost to cover the BPA free cans. Wal Mart and the other big guys? I can't speak for them...but Wal Mart didn't get to the size they are at by saying to their suppliers, "sure, go ahead and raise your prices to us..." if you know what I mean.
The canners themselves have produced - and put into their production sample rooms - cans without BPA. They want to be able to look at year old cans of beans, two year old cans of beans, and see if they maintain the same shelf life as they had with cans with BPA.
And that is an update as of today
Showing posts with label BPA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BPA. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
New BPA free can lining announced
ADM adds BPA alternative to product line
August 16th, 2010
Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) today announced that it has begun offering isosorbide under its line of Evolution Chemicals. Isosorbide is an industrial ingredient made from corn that is a potential alternative to the petroleum-based chemical Bisphenol A in plastics and other applications. ADM is the first company in North America to offer renewable isosorbide on a commercial scale.
Bisphenol A, or BPA, is used in the manufacture of plastics and is present in many products including eyeglass lenses, sports equipment and CDs and DVDs. Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Toxicology Program at the National Institutes of Health have expressed concern about the potential health effects associated with BPA.
“Today more than ever, people are seeking both consumer and industrial products that are safe and renewable,” said Robert Broomham, business director, ADM Industrial Chemicals. “Isosorbide offers manufacturers a renewable alternative to the traditional chemicals found in many products.”
Isosorbide is a versatile ingredient with wide range of applications. It can be used in polyesters for inks, toners, powder coatings, packaging and durable goods; polyurethanes for foams and coatings; polycarbonates for durable goods and optical media; epoxy resins for paints; and detergents, surfactants and additives for personal care and consumer products.
“With increased interest in environmental improvement, we see growing opportunity to expand our portfolio of renewable industrial products,” said Broomham. “ADM’s research and development expertise and our access to agricultural feedstocks enable us to develop innovative ingredients that can serve as replacements for traditional chemicals.”
So after reading this press release, I asked one of my manufacturers about this and received this response from their can manufacturer:
"...This chemical is in its infancy. It is on the front end of the testing/commercialization time-line. We are studying it. However, it has never been put in a can lining. It hasn’t been tested on shelf-life or flavor issues. This is one of many chemicals of its kind that have hit the market. They all need to go through the testing process."
Progress often comes in slow steps...
August 16th, 2010
Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) today announced that it has begun offering isosorbide under its line of Evolution Chemicals. Isosorbide is an industrial ingredient made from corn that is a potential alternative to the petroleum-based chemical Bisphenol A in plastics and other applications. ADM is the first company in North America to offer renewable isosorbide on a commercial scale.
Bisphenol A, or BPA, is used in the manufacture of plastics and is present in many products including eyeglass lenses, sports equipment and CDs and DVDs. Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Toxicology Program at the National Institutes of Health have expressed concern about the potential health effects associated with BPA.
“Today more than ever, people are seeking both consumer and industrial products that are safe and renewable,” said Robert Broomham, business director, ADM Industrial Chemicals. “Isosorbide offers manufacturers a renewable alternative to the traditional chemicals found in many products.”
Isosorbide is a versatile ingredient with wide range of applications. It can be used in polyesters for inks, toners, powder coatings, packaging and durable goods; polyurethanes for foams and coatings; polycarbonates for durable goods and optical media; epoxy resins for paints; and detergents, surfactants and additives for personal care and consumer products.
“With increased interest in environmental improvement, we see growing opportunity to expand our portfolio of renewable industrial products,” said Broomham. “ADM’s research and development expertise and our access to agricultural feedstocks enable us to develop innovative ingredients that can serve as replacements for traditional chemicals.”
So after reading this press release, I asked one of my manufacturers about this and received this response from their can manufacturer:
"...This chemical is in its infancy. It is on the front end of the testing/commercialization time-line. We are studying it. However, it has never been put in a can lining. It hasn’t been tested on shelf-life or flavor issues. This is one of many chemicals of its kind that have hit the market. They all need to go through the testing process."
Progress often comes in slow steps...
Monday, July 5, 2010
Bisphenol A
We are asked pretty regularly if our steel cans contain Bisphenol A (or BPA). The answer is yes.
BPA had been considered a safe lining for cans for the last 50 – 60 years. New research is saying that is not the case.
The can manufacturers have taken the position that BPA is safe. When our canners send me their latest press releases stating that, I respond telling them they are on the wrong side of the issue.
Right now, a commercially viable alternative to existing BPA free cans does not exist. There isn’t a large supply available.
The biggest issue for the commercial canners, as I understand it, is taking BPA out of the cans is going to reduce the shelf life. I tell the canners, “fine.”
We, like everyone else in the Natural/Organic industry, are looking at alternatives. On our canned beans, for example, we are looking at aseptic packaging.
We also were told by our Pate cat food manufacturer that there is no BPA in aluminum cans, so our Pate cat foods are BPA free.
In the next few months, we will have another part of our product line switched from cans with BPA to BPA free cans. We will, of course, announce that on our web site.
I know it isn’t the answer consumers are looking for, but the can industry in the United States is not in a position to stop producing cans with BPA or to switch to an alternative. Their customers – the food manufacturers and big chain store retailers, are, generally speaking, not willing to accept the price increases that will come with using BPA free cans. When one of the “big boys” announces that they are ditching cans with BPA, it is my opinion that the entire can industry will move in that direction. But we are not there yet.
BPA had been considered a safe lining for cans for the last 50 – 60 years. New research is saying that is not the case.
The can manufacturers have taken the position that BPA is safe. When our canners send me their latest press releases stating that, I respond telling them they are on the wrong side of the issue.
Right now, a commercially viable alternative to existing BPA free cans does not exist. There isn’t a large supply available.
The biggest issue for the commercial canners, as I understand it, is taking BPA out of the cans is going to reduce the shelf life. I tell the canners, “fine.”
We, like everyone else in the Natural/Organic industry, are looking at alternatives. On our canned beans, for example, we are looking at aseptic packaging.
We also were told by our Pate cat food manufacturer that there is no BPA in aluminum cans, so our Pate cat foods are BPA free.
In the next few months, we will have another part of our product line switched from cans with BPA to BPA free cans. We will, of course, announce that on our web site.
I know it isn’t the answer consumers are looking for, but the can industry in the United States is not in a position to stop producing cans with BPA or to switch to an alternative. Their customers – the food manufacturers and big chain store retailers, are, generally speaking, not willing to accept the price increases that will come with using BPA free cans. When one of the “big boys” announces that they are ditching cans with BPA, it is my opinion that the entire can industry will move in that direction. But we are not there yet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
