How Bad Are Canned Tomatoes Anyways?

Chances are you’ve got this versatile pantry staple in your own kitchen. Chili? Soups? Casseroles? Curries? I’d wager there’s also a good chance that the cans those little red gems are housed in contain the endocrine disruptor BPA: Bisphenol-A.

You won’t find it on the ingredients list, because it’s not technically in the product. The lining of most brands of canned foods contains this chemical which then leaches into the product contained in the can. BPA has been linked, even in trace amounts to:

Pretty terrible, right?

The list goes on & on, but rather than focusing on how terrible this stuff is for your body, lets talk about what we can do about it. Tomatoes in particular aren’t something that our climate supports year round, so preserving them in some form is the best way (in my opinion) to continue to enjoy them through the winter months. Freezing tomatoes is a great method if they’re going into something saucy. It can be helpful to remove the skins before freezing, though is not entirely necessary. Recently I posted some details on how to can tomatoes yourself though it’s now too late in the year to begin that. Check out our farmers market for a vast array of home canned goods. Though most canning jar lids do contain BPA, the product inside the glass isn’t touching it when upright, so it’s not much of a concern. What’s a girl that didn’t think ahead over the summer to do though? Eden is a brand widely available that doesn’t use BPA in any of its cans! Buying tomato products that are packaged in glass jars will also eliminate the lining of the can concern as well.

Within any given day each of us make a number of small decisions that build up what collectively is our health. Making small adjustments such as the brand of tomato sauce you bring home from the store will help contribute to a greater picture of health. One less little thing that our bodies need to fight off. And as we all know, the little things really are the big things.