from Web Customer Relations
date Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 9:55 AM
subject RE: Trader Joe’s Product Information Form
mailed-by traderjoes.com

Dear Mr. Bard,

Thank you for contacting us. Canned items in our stores WITH BPA lining in the cans would include: tomatoes, tomato sauce & paste, soups, chili, and stew.

Canned items in our stores that DO NOT have BPA lining in the cans include: seafood (tuna, salmon, herring, sardines, etc.), chicken, turkey & beef and now beans and corn. All of our products and packaging are within food safety guidelines and regulations. However, we also wanted to inform you that we do not have any plastic packaging with BPA.

Regards,
Nikki
Customer Relations

Which doesn’t solve the problem of general contamination from plastics in the environment, but does make your personal consupmtion of BPA a little.

“Hello Maya,

With few exceptions, the can linings of aluminum cans in our stores do contain bisphenol-a (BPA) in the lining material. This is true of most aluminum cans in the US and does include our Private Label products.

We are actively assessing the safety of the packaging materials used in our stores, as we are committed to helping our customers protect themselves and their families and as such are concerned about the growing body of research which connects BPA and other estrogenic compounds to certain health effects. The FDA says that such materials are safe as a food contact surface. However, we are currently evaluating certain products and packaging materials on a variety of criteria, including endocrine activity, toxicity, recyclability and functionality. Our goal is to help our shoppers avoid endocrine-active materials in products and packaging where functional alternatives exist.

We actively follow academic research regarding the endocrine activity of substances present in plastics, including BPA. When appropriate, we have stopped the sale of certain products and/or provided information to our customers about the products. For example, as of January 2006 we stopped selling baby bottles and child drinking cups made from polycarbonate plastic or other plastics with added phthalates because of the emerging scientific evidence on their risk.

We are also actively supporting our suppliers’ transition to non-BPA materials where functional alternatives exist. For example, the majority of the refillable individual water bottles in our stores were once made from polycarbonate plastic. Currently, nearly all of those bottles are made from other materials. Polycarbonate plastic is still used in certain large plastic bottles and aluminum can linings in our stores; we are working with manufacturers to strongly encourage the development of alternative products.

We are closely examining the packaging materials used in our stores, and we will continue to search for the safest and most functional packaging materials for our stores.

Best regards,

Rachael

Rachael Gruver | Global Customer Information Specialist | Whole Foods Market | 550 Bowie Street | Austin, Texas 78703″

This is a great incentive to grow your own and cook from scratch.

I’m assuming that if beans/dried goods come in plastic bags that the leaching isn’t as much as with wet heat processed foods, but perhaps I’m wrong.

ON happier news I recieved the Skoy Clothes today! Lvely little items- Can’t wait until it is time to microwave them!