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john65pennington's avatar

Why do some have them and others do not?

Asked by john65pennington (29258points) April 22nd, 2010

In the past few years, more and more canned foods are being lined with a white coating inside the cans. some products have this and others do not. why are the inside of the cans just now being coated and the coating appears to be white paint. what exactly is the coating and why do some products have the coating and others do not?

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14 Answers

Seek's avatar

It’s an epoxy resin, and it’s intent is to reduce corrosion of the can

See?

gailcalled's avatar

Very bad chemical called Bisphenol A (BPA). Many people (including me) will no longer buy cans but only things stored in bottles. The BPA leaches from the inside of the can to its contents.

Canada has banned its use in baby bottles. The US, typically, says, “Oh, let’s just run a few more tests. It can’t be that bad.”

One of many sources

^^ The last study quoted by this biased site mentioned above is from 2002.

(__It’s still means it is.)

Seek's avatar

BPA is linked to serious genetic defects, by the way. The Canadian documentary “The Disappearing Male” covered it in great depth.

- My son was solely breastfed, but the few times he used a bottle, I used glass. ::nods::

slick44's avatar

How do you no ahead of time if the cans you are buying have this?

OneMoreMinute's avatar

AAaahhh! Another dastardly White Coat Conspiracy!
The white coats are coming! The white coats are coming!!

Yes, it’s a plastic coating liner that leaks chemicals that @seek and @gail wrote about.

I don’t know what the FDA approved required daily alotment for plastic is, but I’m sure they want us eating more than what is necessary to cause a shorter life span.

JLeslie's avatar

@OneMoreMinute The thing is I think these things cause unhealthier lives, which is more expensive for the country than dropping dead.

Seek's avatar

@OneMoreMinute
@JLeslie

The link in my first post will send you to bisphenol-a.org, and the article states that you would literally have to eat 500 entire cans of food every day for 75 years to show the effects of bisphenol-a.

You’re in much more danger drinking from a Pepsi bottle.

gailcalled's avatar

@Seek_Kolinahr: Note the sponsor. The page is biased. It’s similar to reading the Montsanto site on how loving and humane they are to their chickens.

OneMoreMinute's avatar

@Seek_Kolinahr Well then in that case, I’m not even close!
@JLeslie I agree.

Seek's avatar

Conclusions

Epoxy resins provide an important coating for food and beverage cans that helps to protect food and beverages from contamination with dissolved metals and from spoilage due to bacterial contamination. Can coatings are essential to maintaining the quality and integrity of canned food and beverages.

Human exposure to BPA from can coatings is minimal and poses no known risk to human health. Can coatings have been and continue to be recognized as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.K. Food Standards Agency, the EC Scientific Committee on Food and other government bodies worldwide.

The UK FSA and COT have confirmed that the levels of BPA in canned foods are unlikely to be of health concern. The SCF has also confirmed that exposure to BPA from all food contact sources, including epoxy resin food and beverage can coatings, is below the Tolerable Daily Intake and therefore is safe.

gailcalled's avatar

@Seek_Kolinahr: Be my guest. I will stick with either fresh or bottled. The gov’t reassured us about cigarette smoke, asbestos, Love Canal and other problematical issues.

Check the dates of the studies cited on that page. The most recent is 8 years old.

Seek's avatar

I hope you’re sticking with glass bottles.

I’m not a fan of Bisphenol-A, and I try not to allow it in my house. We use stainless steel water bottles and everything. However, eating bacteria-infected goods or tomatoes tinged with tin isn’t very appetizing. And some of us can’t afford to stock a fresh pantry every week.

gailcalled's avatar

Oh, I forgot to stipulate. Only glass.

And here’s the other side of the coin. The studies cited are from 2007 to now. Completely different opinions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A

JLeslie's avatar

@Seek_Kolinahr I did not mean that resin in particular, but the accumulation of all the crap in the environment we expose ourselves to. Don’t worry I am not OCD about it :) I eat and am around plenty of chemical laden things. I was just saying that I don’t think it is a conspiracy to kill us.

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