What’s up with concerns for plastics in our kitchens, food storage containers and cooking vessels? Should we be concerned and what is BPA all about? Well now that I am a bit older and more focused on eating healthy I felt it was worth looking into. Are manufacturers producing products for our kitchens that may not be all that safe? Products that are part of our food prep process and can affect our overall health.
Well, BPA or Bisphenol A is a real issue. It’s a key building block for polycarbonate plastics. These are the hard plastics used to manufacturer plastics commonly used to construct water bottles, kitchen utensils, travel mugs and food storage containers. BPA has been a concern since the 1930’s. In 2008 reports suggested that this chemical was hazardous to our health and manufactures then began to remove it from their products. They found that BPA could cause a number of health issue to name just a few: neural, prostate, mammary gland, early puberty in young girls, birth defects, cancer and more… Finally, Canada has classified BPA as inherently toxic.
So what’s a Foodie to do? Well I may not be able to eliminate my exposure entirely but what I have done is: purchase more fresh foods, products in glass containers, fresh or frozen vegetables and we filter your water. When preparing foods in the kitchen, we store our foods in only glass or stainless steel vessels. We have gone back to wood, metal and glass cook’s tools. If I am using nonstick cookware I never allow it to heat up over 500 degrees. Heat seems to enhance the BPA issue so we keep plastics and plastic wraps out of the microwave – paper towels are preferred. Finally, there are a lot of “BPA Free” plastics on the market but sorry I am just not a believer!
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