More things that might kill you (or make you infertile)

Ignorance is bliss.

Or so they say.

I can't decide whether I'd rather be blissfully ignorant and consume things that will kill me or be the so-called empowered consumer and avoid all things that have a remote chance of disrupting my hormones or causing cancer, etc. etc.

I'm already borderline-obsessive about reading labels, so I really don't need another thing to obsessively worry about.

But before I carry on and complain about a big chunk of my pantry that I might need to forever banish, let me issue a warning: if you don't want to find out about more foods that you're not supposed to eat, then please skip this post. Stop reading. Now. Really.

If you don't want to get annoyed at yet another thing that you may or may not think about cutting out of your diet, please, really, stop reading.

And if you get a lot of your protein from legumes as I do, don't even think about continuing reading.

(The problem with the written form is that I have no way of knowing whether people have stopped reading. But I'm going to assume that those that don't want to read on have stopped and now have a little monologue-ish venting session.)

First I banished all #7 plastics from my house, because I found out that they have BPA, which are endocrine disruptors that might alter my hormones and increase my chances of miscarriage, were I ever to get pregnant, and breast cancer, even though I don't have enough breastage to worry about getting breast cancer.

If I were more environmentally conscious, I'd say that I got rid of them because of my aversion to plastics, but truth be told, all things equal, my motivation for doing anything will be first and foremost health-related, and then environment-related. Which is not to say I don't care about the environment. I do.

So the evil endocrine-disrupting, hormone-mimicking #7 plastics have all been evicted from my home.

I thought I was cancer and infertility-causing BPA free.

Well, it turns out that this is not our biggest source of BPA ingestion.

There are mixed results on this, but the latest edition of my nutrition health magazine (my source for my food-induced paranoias, but also my source for being a so-called informed citizen) says that the biggest source of BPA is canned foods.

As in, the canned tomatoes I always keep around, in case I want to make a pasta dish or faux-homemade pasta sauce.
As in, the can of pumpkin puree I have on hand for quick meal ideas (pasta, soup, dumplings).
As in, those tiny cans of tomato paste, another thing I always keep handy for cooking purposes.
As in, soup (though truth be told, I probably buy it more frequently in paper cartons, since the canned type tend to be high in sodium).
As in, cans of coconut milk that I keep on hand, again, in case I get inspired to make coconut rice or the mango with sticky rice dessert, or a Thai curry or a soup.
As in, the canned tuna I also keep on hand, in case I want to add it into salad for extra protein.
As in, the 53 cans of beans I have, since they are--or should be--one of my major sources of protein.
As in, almost my entire bottom shelf of my lower kitchen cabinet. . ..

I'm really annoyed. On the one hand, I'm glad I found out about this now, but on the other hand, did I really need to know this? Did I want to know this?

So now the question is what to do.

Do I cover my eyes and ignore the "studies", as I did when this same magazine mentioned something about "possible" adverse effects of grapefruit maybe a year or so ago?

Say "Wth. It's a damn citrus fruit for heaven's sake! No added chemicals or preservatives. Just good ole wholesome natural fruit." and deem all such studies frivolous and continue to eat the accused food item, because I am suspicious of all such studies that try to malign and innocent fruit?

Oh, but wait. BPA isn't exactly wholesome or natural, is it?

There is no dispute over the fact that the cans leach BPA. The dispute is over whether BPA poses harm.

I'm undecided over this and how much of this hysteria to believe.
I still need to read more on this, before I make an informed decision, but I have been doing some reading for the past week or two, and if I do believe all of this hype, this is pretty serious stuff.
Disrupting your hormones and reproductive system?

The studies in my magazine say that the evidence isn't conclusive and that they have mixed results.
But I don't want to sit on my bum and wait for them to release their findings.

So in the meantime, it pays to play it safe, right? Like the damn hormone injections in cows, etc? I don't really care if "no significant differences have been shown between milk derived from cows treated with artificial hormones and those not treated with artificial hormones." -- I don't want any freaking hormones in my milk! I have my own to contend with, thank you very much.

And likewise, if what they say about BPA is true, then I suppose I want to minimize my exposure till I find out more.

It might be one of these hysteria-paranoia-inducing things, but most of the studies discrediting the BPA-is-bad studies are self-serving sites like bisphenol-a.org or government agencies like the FDA, which I don't trust as my go-to source of information.

So for the time being, I think I will play it safe and look into alternatives for canned goods. This afternoon, I emailed a few companies inquiring about their canned products to see if they are lined with BPA.

It's not all that bad. It turns out that Eden Foods does not line their cans of beans with BPA. (They do, however line their cans of tomato products with BPA, according to this discussion thread.)

For the soups, I mostly use the paper carton types anyway, so that's not a hard switch. And BPA-lined soda cans? I haven't had soda since high school or so. I don't have to completely eliminate canned beans from my diet, thanks to Eden Foods. But the canned tomatoes, tomato paste and other things like coconut milk are going to be a pain to find shelf-stable substitutes.

(Here is a long report that goes into a fair amount of detail about BPA in canned foods, infant formula, etc. Full disclosure: I did not read this entire report.)

* * * *

And yet, as much as I complain about how annoying this is (because no doubt it is beyond annoying), I realize that the very fact that this is my main complaint, rather than that I don't have enough cans of such food to stay alive, just goes to show how spoiled and well-off I am, doesn't it?

In a world where there is a real food crisis going on in many regions, my concerns about BPA leachings from cans seem trivial.

The fact that it even crossed my mind (but only briefly, since as much as I don't like the idea of ingesting hormone-altering foods in my system, I dislike the idea of wasting an otherwise perfectly fine can of food even more. . .) to get rid of all such cans from my pantry is probably proof that my complaints are probably small nickels in the overall scheme of things.

* * * *

Which raises another annoying dilemma similar to the one I had when I had to get rid of the #7 plastics: what to do with the 800 cans of otherwise perfectly fine food I have that are not Eden Foods. Do I use them up since I don't like wasting food? After all, up until now, I was blissfully ignorantly consuming them.

Do I throw them out and add to the landfill and worse yet, throw out a lot of food?

Do I donate them to a food bank? Which seems kind of preposterous to me. On the one hand, I know it's better than throwing out food and that someone who has more pressing concerns than I do can probably use these cans of food. But on the other hand, I feel ridiculous "donating" cans of food that weren't "up to par" for me. Nay, I don't like that idea at all. I think that option is out.

So I guess I'll worry about this BPA thing and finding substitutes for canned goods once I go through my 800 cans of food. . ..