BPA concern poses business challenges

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A study out this month showing high content of bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA, in some canned goods has raised new concerns about use of the chemical compound in food processing, sending some companies scrambling to find an alternative.

The report, called “No Silver Lining,” addresses the use of can liners treated with a BPA epoxy to prevent a reaction between the food being preserved and the can itself.

For the report, The National Work Group for Safe Markets, a coalition of public health and environmental health groups, tested food from 50 cans from 19 U.S. states and one Canadian province for BPA contamination. More than 90 percent of the cans tested had detectable levels of BPA, some at higher levels than have been detected in previous studies.

“When mom told me to eat my veggies she didn’t know that I’d also be eating a synthetic sex hormone called BPA — and how would she? It isn’t on the label,” said Renee Hackenmiller-Paradis, program director for environmental health at the Oregon Environmental Council.

The OEC participated in the study, providing canned food from Oregon for the test. The OEC lobbied the legislature for a BPA ban for reusable children’s cups and baby bottles and in can liners for infant formula. The effort was not successful in the February session.

But extending the anti-BPA campaign to canned goods raises a difficult business issue for companies that are concerned about food safety.

“I resent being in this position. The can industry should have come to grips with this,” said Peter Truitt, co-owner of Truitt Bros., a Salem-based food processor.

Truitt said there’s no question that BPA is an unwanted additive, but can liners are required for much of the food the company processes. Truitt Bros. has been testing alternative can liners — such as acrylic and vinyl — but the company has not yet been able to validate the safety and efficacy of other options. He’s also troubled by studies of food canned in BPA-free cans that still contained levels of BPA.

“We’ve got to be diligent and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Truitt said.

Orgeon’s Choice Gourmet of Philomath received recognition for its use of BPA-free cans for its lightly-salted Albacore tuna, but seafood isn’t as reactive as many vegetables — especially tomatoes with their high acidic content.

Craig Smith, vice president of the Northwest Food Processors Association, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently confirmed the safety of BPA in all its current uses.

"We rely on the FDA to tell us what's safe," Smith said.

The issue becomes complicated when studies such as "No Silver Lining," which Smith said is short on scientific fact, prompt customers to start demanding alternatives, making it a financial issue for food processors.

"We'll do what our customers tell us to do," Smith said.