Plastic Fantastic (not!)
Amid frenzied media reports of “deadly chemicals” in Thanksgiving foods, a new study showing that eating canned soup sharply raises concentrations of bisphenol-A or BPA in the body, and the gnashing of teeth by bloggers worried by the health risks of sous-vide cooking, health-conscious households everywhere are reverberating with the dull “thud-plunk-plop” of plastic kitchenware being flung into garbage pails. Or at least, mine is.
Having written about the dangers of kitchen plastics here, I recently decided to rid myself of plastic bowls, storage tubs and utensils and invest in safer alternatives. Plastic mixing bowls have been replaced with stainless steel; plastic spatulas and chopping boards ceded their place to bamboo substitutes (much more attractive, incidentally); and my plastic electric kettle (deviously posing as a stainless steel kettle which, on closer examination, revealed a plastic inner casing) was replaced by a stainless steel stove-top kettle – complete with whistle for full-blown retro appeal!
Admittedly, plastics probably don’t pose the biggest health risk of them all. Environmental pollutants, dangerous microorganisms, radiation, or getting knocked off your bicycle on your way to work pose greater risks to your health than your plastic lunch box. But unlike these factors — which are virtually impossible for us to influence — there are many other health hazards (in particular with regard to cancer risk) that we can and should avoid: smoking, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, junk food. And the plastics that come in contact with our food.
Just to recap: the vast majority of plastics currently used in food processing — whether it’s in the linings of cans, plastic food wrap and sandwich bags, disposable water bottles, silicone cake moulds and implements, Tetrapak containers, airtight food storage containers, convenience-food packaging or kitchen appliances (espresso makers, kettles, water filters, etc.) — contain chemical compounds like BPA that leach into the foods we eat, and which, once ingested, can have adverse health effects.
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Safety/chemical/bisphenol-a-1123110605.html
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