Food & Drink
BPA in 86% of teens
Exposure to Bisphenol A, a chemical found in plastics, is ‘hard to avoid’ in everyday life.
10 February 2018
Beans and pulses are healthy, sustainable and affordable – as well as being great alternatives for those looking for vegan alternatives this Veganuary.
Yet the tins sold by some brands are lined with chemicals that could have an adverse effect on health.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is used in food and drink packaging, including in the linings of tins to prevent metal corrosion from contaminating the food.
It has been linked to a wide range of health hazards, including breast and prostate cancer, asthma, obesity and fertility.
‘Beans and pulses are affordable and low-carbon alternatives to meat and meat-free substitutes, as well as being minimally processed. However, consumers need to be aware of some brands of tinned beans which might contain a chemical that is likely to be banned within a couple of years.’
JANE TURNER
Writer and researcher from Ethical Consumer
In its recent guide, Ethical Consumer highlights what to look out for and what to avoid in brands that sell beans and pulses.
It recommends looking out for ‘BPA-free’ on product labels, the Soil Association organic accreditation and dried beans or beans in glass jars instead. Its guide also features seven recommended Best Buys which are BPA-free, organic and ethical, including Suma and Mr Organic.
Ethical Consumer also recommends looking out for pulses grown in the UK, as UK-grown pulses can mean some carbon savings from transportation plus an increase in food security.
Many commonly sold tinned bean brands such as Napolina, KTC and Natco either use BPA lining or don’t clearly state if they don’t use it.
As lining is not added to the food directly, brands do not legally need to state what chemicals are used in their product packaging.
Other brands that also scored poorly from Ethical Consumer included TRS, Fudco, East End and Indus.
Each of these brands scored 0/100 in agriculture due to a lack of policies regarding organic food, GM, pollution, biodiversity and food waste.
They scored 10/100 or 0/100 for workers’ rights and have the lowest scores for climate change due to a lack of discussion about how they were reducing their climate emissions.
Of the seven brands which are Best Buy recommendations, nearly all have a score of 80 and over out of 100.
Mr Organic, which features at the top of the table with a score of 93, is now available in Waitrose.
Suma, another Best Buy, is available online and in local health and wholefood stores.
Mr Organic, Clearspring, Organic Kitchen and Biona only sell organic pulses.
Bold Bean Co, Essential, Hodmedod’s, Infinity Foods and Suma offer a range of organic pulses.
Exposure to Bisphenol A, a chemical found in plastics, is ‘hard to avoid’ in everyday life.
Major investigation links deforestation to supermarket supply chains.
Two peer-reviewed studies have found plastics in apples, carrots and lettuce.
With microplastics found in 73% of meat and dairy, who is protecting you from eating plastic?
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