The Campbell’s Soup Company is going to completely phase out the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in its food cans, the company said this week in an earnings call. Healthy Child Healthy World and the Breast Cancer Fund announced the news in a joint press release.
BPA is used in metal cans to prevent corrosion and increase shelf life. When foods, especially acidic foods, come into contact with metal, they react with it. That can cause aluminum or magnesium to leach into the food and weaken the metal.
BPA is an endocrine disruptor; some studies have found that it may be linked to weight gain, behavior problems, breast cancer, heart disease, thyroid issues, liver abnormalities, and diabetes. The BPA in soup cans is of particular concern, since a recent study found that the BPA levels in urine spike 1,000% after eating canned soup.
The Breast Cancer Fund, in its Cans Not Cancer campaign, has repeatedly petitioned Campbell’s and other food companies to remove BPA from its packaging. That organization has launched a petition to ask Campbell’s about the timeline of its intentions.
The FDA is going to decide at the end of March, 2012, whether or not to ban BPA from food and beverage packaging in the United States. A lawsuit against the FDA by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed in 2010 prompted the government’s study of the chemical.
