--- title: BPA-free Canned Goods Receipts: Why It's Hard To Find Safe Products description: More than 25% of food brands offer at least some of their products in BPA-free packaging, according to a Environmental Working Group study. canonical: https://time.com/3905842/bpa-free-canned-food/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-03T04:01:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:11.503Z article:section: Health og:title: Now It's Harder than Ever to Be 'BPA Free': Report og:description: Avoid the chemicals just got trickier og:url: https://time.com/3905842/bpa-free-canned-food/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee94a9f99919de35/698783e755a8593a17a86542/bpa-free-plastic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Camelback brand water bottles that are free of the controversial carbonate plastic bisphenol-a (BPA), one of the most widely used synthetic chemicals in industry, hang on display at an outdoor supply store on April 16, 2008 in Arcadia, Calif. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Now It's Harder than Ever to Be 'BPA Free': Report twitter:description: Avoid the chemicals just got trickier twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee94a9f99919de35/698783e755a8593a17a86542/bpa-free-plastic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Now It's Harder than Ever to Be 'BPA Free': Report > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: What Causes Garlic Breath? [Watch (HLS stream): What Causes Garlic Breath?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SjeOdV0s.m3u8) (1:35)  _Published 2014-06-09. From the American Chemical Society_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 3, 2015 4:01 AM UTC  Camelback brand water bottles that are free of the controversial carbonate plastic bisphenol-a (BPA), one of the most widely used synthetic chemicals in industry, hang on display at an outdoor supply store on April 16, 2008 in Arcadia, Calif. Camelback brand water bottles that are free of the controversial carbonate plastic bisphenol-a (BPA), one of the most widely used synthetic chemicals in industry, hang on display at an outdoor supply store on April 16, 2008 in Arcadia, Calif. David McNew—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 3, 2015 4:01 AM UTC Bisphenol A, better known as BPA, has inspired fear in the minds of the health conscious ever since researchers first expressed concern that the chemical may disrupt the human endocrine system in 2008\. Now, more than a quarter of food brands offer at least some of their products in BPA-free packaging, according to a new [study](http://www.ewg.org/research/bpa-canned-food). But the research, published Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), also demonstrates why people buying BPA-free products may not be getting the product they think. For one, many BPA replacement chemicals may not be any better than BPA itself. Even worse, some products with BPA-free labels may actually do contain BPA due to lax regulation of packaging manufacturers. “People should not be eating BPA. It’s a known toxin,” said Renee Sharp, EWG head of research. “But at the same time we don’t know a ton about the alternative chemicals.” Researchers surveyed companies that manufacture more than 250 food brands for the study and found that 12% used BPA-free cans for all canned goods, 14% used some BPA-free cans and 31% used exclusively BPA-lined cans. The remaining 43% did not provide adequate data. Amy’s Kitchen, American Tuna and Tyson Foods are among the companies that have eliminated BPA entirely. While EWG got clear answers from most companies about whether they used BPA in their cans, that the companies that say they did switch to BPA free offered only “a vague description” or provided no information at all about what replaced BPA in their packaging, according to the report. The lack of transparency concerns some health experts because [early evidence](http://time.com/3742871/bpa-free-health/) suggests that some alternatives like Bisphenol S and F, known as BPS and BPF, may have similar negative effects on the human body. Despite a lack of transparency, EWG researchers say that it’s worth avoiding BPA even if we don’t fully understand the alternatives. “If you know something is bad, you don’t want to be eating it,” said Sharp. “I do think that the companies that are trying to do the right things deserve props.” Still, it’s hard for consumers to know exactly what the BPA-free label means. With little oversight, packaging suppliers don’t necessarily provide food manufacturers with products that meet a BPA-free standard, even if they slap on a BPA-free label. EWG researchers hope the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will set a standard of fewer than 0.5 parts per billion of BPA in food contents, said EWG database analyst Samara Geller. “Companies are putting that label on the can, but we would like to see that mean something for consumers,” she said. So what do you do if you want to avoid BPA entirely? Good luck. “Don’t eat canned food, eat fresh food,” said Sharp. “And don’t touch store receipts.” ## Transcript This week on Reactions, we're talking garlic. And hey, it's good for your taste buds and good for your body but you gotta wonder, how can something that adds such a brilliant flavor to food leave you with such rank breath after you eat it? Our buddies over at Compound Interest have some answers for us. So sit back, get peeling and get ready for some hard chemistry facts about garlic. Garlic contains four major volatile organic compounds that are responsible for that notorious garlic breath. Interestingly enough, none of these compounds are present in garlic until it's crushed up or chopped. When garlic's structure's damaged, enzymes convert the compound Alliin to Allicin which is responsible for garlic's distinct smell. Allicin is then broken down to the four compounds that were just mentioned. Once you take your first bite, the allyl methyl sulfide compound is broken down in your body much slower than the rest of the gang. So it's mostly responsible for the garlic breath. This compound is then passed into your bloodstream and organs is excreted when you sweat, breathe, and when you have to pee. But, hey, if you're worried about garlic breath, try eating some parsley or drinking milk. These two foods are actually no one to reduce garlic breath. There's also more to garlic than its delicious flavor and accompanying bad breath. You may have heard people tell you that garlic is good for your health. Well, they're right. Garlic carries antibacterial properties and three come pounds in particular do the dirty work. Sulfur- containing organic compounds like these can penetrate the cell membranes of bacteria cells and combine with certain enzymes or proteins to alter their structure, which ultimately damages the cells. 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