A new warning about an old health hazard that’s still out there

It looks like the folks at the FDA are spending another summer at the beach.

Because when it comes to the dangers of bisphenol A (BPA), our government still has its head buried in the sand.

For years I’ve been warning you that BPA — used in everything from plastic bottles to food packaging — is seeping into just about everything we eat.

And the FDA kept insisting it was safe, even after studies linked BPA to heart disease, diabetes and even neurological disorders.

But if this latest study doesn’t finally wake up our government and the food industry to the dangers of BPA, it looks like nothing will.

Because Chicago researchers have proven that BPA may be setting up millions of men for a battle with deadly prostate cancer.

In some cases, before they’re even born.

Born with cancer?When it comes to proving that BPA causes prostate cancer, Dr. Gail Prins says her latest research is “as definitive as it gets.”

Prins and her colleagues from the University of Illinois at Chicago found that when developing prostate tissue is exposed to BPA — even miniscule amounts — it causes an abnormally large amount of prostate stem cells to develop.

Now that all sounds a little technical, but here’s what you need to know — all those extra stem cells send your risk of developing prostate cancer later in life through the roof.

In other words, some men — even before they’re born — are practically guaranteed to develop prostate cancer. All thanks to that BPA that everyone keeps telling us is harmless.

And being exposed to BPA — even during your middle-aged or senior years — could have you on the road to prostate cancer, too.

A study just last year that found men with prostate cancer had four times as much BPA in their urine as men without cancer.

And that’s a big problem — because when it comes to limiting our exposure to BPA, there’s been a lot more talk than action from our government and the food industry.

The FDA continues to ignore the science and claim that BPA is safe in food packaging — even after the agency actually banned the chemical in baby bottles and sippy cups.

And despite all those “BPA-free” stickers you see on food at the supermarket, this poison is still in literally hundreds of the foods we buy every day.

In fact, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) just issued a report on canned foods and found that only a handful of companies have ditched BPA entirely.

On the other hand, the list of companies still using toxic BPA reads like a “who’s who” of the food industry. I’m talking about household names like Smucker’s, Nestle, Target’s Market Pantry brand, and Campbell’s soups.

Campbell’s actually refused to tell EWG which of its products still use BPA in the packaging. But as I told you a couple days ago, Campbell’s doesn’t exactly have the best record when it comes to sharing what’s in its products. The company has been sneaking the dangerous food additive MSG into our soup for years.

The FDA and Big Food aren’t going to protect us from BPA — so we’re going to have to take matters into our own hands. Here are some simple tips from EWG:

• Skip canned food and only buy products fresh, frozen, or packaged in glass;
• Never heat anything in the can, which can cause the BPA to leach into your food; and
• If you are using canned food and don’t know if the can is lined with BPA, rinse the food to remove some of the chemical.

To read the EWG report along with more brand names to avoid when shopping, click here.

Sources:

“Prostate ‘organoid’ hints at how early BPA exposure may increase cancer risk” University of Illinois at Chicago, July 29, 2015, eurekalert.org

“BPA in canned food” EWG, Jun 3, 2015, ewg.org