September/October 2010 Issue

Which Canned Goods Contain the Most BPA?

The surprising list.

Stephen St-Maurice/iStockphoto.com

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Read also: Plastic liners leach BPA into our food. So why have manufacturers and regulators failed to act?

CONSUMERS UNION recommends ingesting no more than .0011 micrograms of BPA daily per pound of body weight. But it found at least 20 times the limit for a typical adult in a single serving of several canned foods it tested.

 

Product/Model BPA PER SERVING (AVERAGE IN MICROGRAMS) EXCEEDS DAILY LIMIT BY A FACTOR OF
Progresso Vegetable Soup 22.0 115
Del Monte Blue Lake Fresh Cut Green Beans 14.9 77
Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup 10.2 53
Annie’s Home Grown Organic Cheesy Ravioli 7.70 39
Hormel Chili with Beans 6.10 31
Green Giant Whole Kernel Sweet Corn 3.80 19
Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli in Tomato Meat Sauce 2.50 12
Nestle Juicy Juice All Natural 100% Juice Apple 2.3 11
Libby’s Corned Beef 1.8 8
Vital Choice Tuna 1.15 5
Similac Advance Infant Formula (concentrated, liquid) 0.85 3
Slim Fast High Protein (extra creamy chocolate, liquid) 0.78 3
Bush’s Best Original Baked Beans 0.6 2
Swanson White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast 0.47 1
Starkist Chunk Light Tuna in Water 0.2 Less than Limit
Valley Fresh White Chicken in Water Organic 0.19 Less than Limit
Eden Baked Beans with Sorghum & Mustard Organic 0.15 Less than Limit
Hunt’s Tomato Sauce 0.04 Less than Limit

Source: Consumers Union; based on limit for a 173 lb. adult.

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We didn't know what to expect when we told you we needed to raise $400,000 before our fiscal year closed on June 30, and we're thrilled to report that our incredible community of readers contributed some $415,000 to help us keep charging as hard as we can during this crazy year.

You just sent an incredible message: that quality journalism doesn't have to answer to advertisers, billionaires, or hedge funds; that newsrooms can eke out an existence thanks primarily to the generosity of its readers. That's so powerful. Especially during what's been called a "media extinction event" when those looking to make a profit from the news pull back, the Mother Jones community steps in.

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