I hate to see the food industry cave to the bellyaching peddlers of pseudo-science. It seems to be happening more and more now. McDonald’s caved late last year when the company rejiggered its Happy Meals to include less French fries and mandatory apple slices. Mars, the American candy company, caved earlier this year when it announced plans to phase-out all chocolate products that exceed 250 calories. Now, Campbell’s Soup Company is joining in, announcing they plan to stop using BPA in the lining of their cans.
Naturally, junk science groups applaud this announcement. Left wing groups like the Environmental Working Group and the Breast Cancer Fund have been beating up the canned goods industry for years, claiming BPA seeps into the food contained in the cans. Yet, what they conveniently leave out is that the so-called seepage is a miniscule amount—far less than what humans can consume safely. I’ve written about BPA’s safety here.
The people that really lose when companies cave to these so called advocacy groups are consumers who are already having difficulty with high food and fuel costs. Now Campbell’s has to spend a considerable amount of money researching and finding an acceptable (and totally unnecessary) replacement for BPA. Who will pay for this research? Who will pay for this repackaging? You!
Canned foods are an important food source for all Americans, but particularly the poor. For those who live far under the poverty line, canned food offers a way to get vegetables and other nutritious food items at a fraction of the cost.
Americans must stand up to this nonsense. They must understand that the real danger does not lie in the liner used in canned goods or the size and weight of candy bars or in the number of French fries in a Happy Meal. The real danger is toxic science that is increasingly being used to advance the radical ideological agendas of left-wing organizations hell bent on regulating the food and beverage industries.