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Gretchen Lee Salter's picture

"BPA-free" means safe, not linked to breast cancer, not estrogenic, in the clear, worry-free…right?

Hardly.

In March of this year, Campbell’s announced that it is getting rid of BPA, but the company is not disclosing what it plans to use instead.

We need to know what's in the food our families eat! That's why today we're calling on you to join the Cans Not Cancer campaign in asking Campbell’s to spell it out for us: What's in those can linings? If you're on Facebook or Twitter it only takes a minute—just share the alphabet soup photo with Campbell's and with your own friends.

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Up until very recently, virtually all food cans were lined with an epoxy resin made with BPA, a toxic chemical linked to breast cancer and other diseases that is nonetheless an FDA-approved food contact substance.

Although many canned food makers are starting to move away from BPA, to our knowledge only Eden Foods  is actually printing "BPA-free" on its canned beans. So while you may have heard that Muir Glen tomatoes , Trader Joe's canned fish or some Campbell's soups are packaged in BPA-free cans, it's pretty hard to know if the can in the store (or the one that's been in your cupboard for six months) is, in fact, BPA-free.

Moreover, chemicals being used to replace BPA are not necessarily safe. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC; yes, the stuff in plastic pipes), for example, is an FDA-approved alternative for can linings, yet vinyl chloride is a known carcinogen. BPS is another lining option—an option plucked from the same family of chemicals as BPA and which is now being found in people.

So while we cheer, celebrate and congratulate canned food manufacturers—including Campbell's—that have announced plans to replace BPA, our Cans Not Cancer campaign still has some pointed questions: when will companies be completing the change? What are they using instead of BPA? And are the replacements safe?

Today please take one minute of your time to tell Campbell’s that you want to know what it’s using instead of BPA in its can linings.

While we know that replacing BPA is complicated for manufacturers, moms deserve to know what's in those cans, just like we deserve to see the ingredient list or how many milligrams of sodium are in a serving.

We're committed to getting this information from manufacturers, starting with Campbell’s. Join Cans Not Cancer  and share this information with everyone you care about. Campbell’s needs to hear from you!


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