BPA Free Bottles? Yeah, About That...

It seems the BPA scare has caused several companies to label their products as BPA-free.  There has been some controversy over the compound and what role it truly plays in the cause of certain cancers, diabetes and heart conditions.

There's just one small problem.  It's not just plastic, it turns out canned food contains it as well.  The cans themselves are lined with the chemical.

People who consumed one serving of canned soup a day for five days had a more than 1,000 percent increase in urinary BPA over people who consumed fresh soup for five days, the study showed.

"We've known for a while that drinking beverages that have been stored in certain hard plastics can increase the amount of BPA in your body," study author Jenny Carwile, a doctoral student at Harvard School of Public Health, said in a written statement. "This study suggests that canned foods may be an even greater concern, especially given their wide use."

BPA is used in the linings of metal food and beverage cans as well as in certain plastic bottles and dental sealants.

Seventy-five volunteers were recruited for the study. Every day for five days, one group consumed 12 ounces of canned vegetarian soup and another consumed 12 ounces of fresh vegetarian soup. After a two-day "washout period," the groups switched soups and spent another five days slurping away.

The researchers found that urine samples collected from the canned soup group spiked 1,221 percent over BPA levels over samples collected from the fresh soup group.

The article concludes pointing out that there is no conclusive evidence of harmful effects from BPA. I'm just asking, why run the risk?  It's hard to know at this point if it's a helpful discovery or urban legend fodder, but I will keep up with this and post any updates.  At this point I'm thinking risking a thousand percent increase of anything isn't good for us, even if it's just a little bit dangerous.