Canned food

Last week, I was listening to the news and they were covering a story about the dangers of eating canned foods, at that same time, I was eating canned beans. This particular incident got me thinking about the benefits and dangers of canned foods.

The benefits of placing food in containers are that it extends the life of the food over a very long period of time, transportation of the food is much easier and the method for packing the food is fairly safe. Foods that are canned usually include vegetables, fruits, sauces, beans, lentils, pastas, and meats. When foods are canned, food safety measures are implemented by companies and the cans are heated to high temperatures to destroy all of the microorganisms that could cause food spoilage or carry foodborne illness. The heating process also removes air from the products which helps prevent any possibility of recontamination by harmful microorganisms. In addition, canned food is really easy to cook and saves time and according to research, canned fruits and vegetables contain the same amount of dietary fibre and vitamins as their fresh equivalents.

There are many dangers associated with canned foods which can affect ones health. Simple measures that a consumer can take to prevent food poisoning when purchasing canned food are: try not to purchase cans that are dented, leaking, cracked, or have bulging lids as these food may be exposed to external elements and can be harmful to the consumers health. Long term measures are to reduce overall intake of canned foods period. Canned foods are known to have small amounts of Bisphenol A. Bisphenol A is a chemical compound used in the creation of polycarbonate plastics. It can be found in many everyday items: hard-plastic water bottles, baby bottles, baby food jars, even the linings in canned foods and beverages. Research indicates that this chemical is a cacogenic and over time can have severe health ramifications leading to cancers.

Have you had any bad experiences eating canned foods? Do you think twice about eating canned foods as I do because of the chemical compound Bisphenol A?