28th day of Lent
In which I learn something troubling and sinister about canned beans.
It began so simply...and the cliffhanger ending still has me awake.
Earlier today I had an eye-splitting headache (you ever get those?) and took a nap, only to awaken to the children having rigged an amazonian rainforest out of blankets and chairs in the spare bedroom--apparently because they got out too many toys in their own bedroom to be able to walk across the floor, and so resorted to terraforming the guest room. Dragging myself to the kitchen, I realized that the dinner hour was here and food was not, despite my hopes, going to make itself. We've been living off leftovers, but had finished the last.
What could I easily and quickly make for dinner--that everyone will eat?
Thus was, many moons ago, Pesto Pasta born. It is "rainbow" twirls with pesto sauce, tomato chunks and a can of beans--super fast, several food groups, we will all eat it. Done.
But there was this nagging sensation in the back of my skull, and it wasn't the headache (it went for the eyes, remember?). What was it, what was it...?
Then I remembered. A facebook photo from my Aunt P! (yes, Aunt P, I read your messages!) She took a photo of a magazine article about the dangers of BPA in canned foods, particularly Progresso Canned Vegetable Soup. I ran to the cupboard--gasp!!! IT WAS THERE. A CAN OF PROGRESSO CHICKEN SOUP. it's not the same thing...but it's close!
Um, ok. Now what?
1). Don't eat the soup.
2) I don't know what step 2 is, just don't eat the soup.
3) don't worry. we weren't eating soup tonight anyway.
But this is silly--I don't even know what the big deal is. So rather than narrate the whole drama, I'll condense to a few important points:
- From Aunt P's pic, I found the article referenced at Mother Jones, link here, Waiter There's BPA in my Soup. But it's from 2010, and time has passed. Does my soup still have a BPA lining?
- Lookup "what is BPA" at Mayoclinic. Link here. "BPA stands for bisphenol-A, and industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the 1960's. BPA is found in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins (I do believe that's glue.) ...epoxy resins are used to coat the inside of metal products, such as food cans, bottle tops and water supply lines. ...Some research has shown that BPA can seep into food or beverages from containers made with BPA." (Wait. So, they coat the inside of metal containers...with plastic? Oh my GOSH there is no escaping this web of lies! AUGH! That's been, like, my method most of Lent, has been to buy canned food to avoid plastic packages for frozen food. And now you tell me that the cans are coated in plastic? ON THE INSIDE?) "Reduce your use of canned foods since most can are lined with BPA-containing resin." Look at date stamp: May 2013. Crap.
- Look askance at can of beans. Et tu, can of beans? Is it still true--does canned food contain BPA laced innards? Or has the industry changed since the article was written?
- I know who will know! Snopes.com! Destroyer of lies and urban legends. But alas, Snopes, you have failed. www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/soupcan.asp. Status of legend: Undetermined. WHAT?? I read on, only to discover that Snopes is, in fact, not a scientific research facility capable of pronouncing public safety matters. They debunk myths. However, if they'd gone further, I think they could have labeled this one "true." So why didn't they?
- Back to staring suspiciously at my can of beans. So what are YOU lined with, my pretty?
- Google "canned lining bpa" and find this website listing cans that do NOT use bpa lining (remembering, of course, that removing BPA to replace it with BPB was actually WORSE if you're worried about the polymer chains being metabolized into estrogens--so what is used INSTEAD of BPA actually mattes.). Realize there ARE other options, like "oleo-resin" which is plant based, but sounds a lot like that Olestra stuff that made everybody poop.
- Stare harder at beans. Realize can has a website: "www.kroger.com/simpletruth" and that it claims to be free of 101 different artificial flavors and preservatives. Go to website.
- BPA is not listed as a 'free from' item. See hotline number on can.
- Stare harder at beans. The critical juncture has come. It is time to add the beans to the dish.
- Add the beans. We're hungry.
- Rinse can. Look closely at insides. My fingernail fails to gain purchase, is unable to scratch off any waxy or glue like substance. Perhaps it is unlined!
- Find knife. Cut insides of can like a crazy lady, discover thankfully that I am not mad, because there is now a gray flaking paint like substance. So there IS a lining. What is it?
- Call product hotline. 1-800-632-6900
- Wait 11 minutes on hold. We put the phone on speaker and enjoyed muzac during dinner. Discuss with children what mommy is doing. Discuss relative merits of canned music; wonder vaguely whether there is an auditory equivalent to BPA linings. Realize that would probably be synthesized saxophone. Think of Bill Clinton.
- And the phone is answered!
What follows is, as best I can repeat it, my interview of Shavon, the kindly and knowledgeable customer service rep (no, really, mad props to this lady who probably gets a lot of angry people on the phone. She was very nice and quite helpful).
Shavon: Hi, this is Shavon, thank you for calling the Kroger customer service line, how may I help you?
Me: Well, I have a question about a canned food product. I'm doing a little research, and I wanted to know what the lining of the can was made out of. It is of the Simple Truth Organics line, its canned beans, and I've already looked up the website, and while it details 101 things that are NOT in the can, it does not state what the can lining actually IS. Are you able to find out that information?
Shavon: Let me pull up the product information. Can you read me the SKU number?
Me: 11110 84940 (and then she asks me to read a whole bunch more numbers that made even less sense to me).
Shavon: Well, first I need to acknowledge that I am not able to tell you definitely at this time what the can lining is. Our products change producer and plant frequently, and so there is no way to tell how the can has been manufactured.
Me: Really. (What are all those numbers for, if not to track it's production and origins?)
Shavon: I can tell you that if the can does not say "BPA-free" on it, or it is not made of glass, then we cannot guarantee that it does not contain BPA. We have already removed BPA from all of our infant and toddler products, but not from our canned goods. Although, here I do see a manufacturing note that we have informed our producers that we will no longer accept products made with BPA.
Me: When was that order made?
Shavon: I'm afraid I don't have that information.
Me: Ok. So we can't tell by the packaging if it has BPA, but it might not have BPA. Is there any way to tell what other resins might be used to line the can, like oleo-resin?
Shavon: I'm afraid that's up to the producer.
Me: Can I know the name of the producer so that I could ask them?
Shavon. (...pause...) The producers are a proprietary name of Kroger, and that information is not traded publicly.
Me: Huh?
Shavon: The producers of the can are a proprietary partner of Kroger's, and that information is not available.
Me: So...the only one who knows how this can is made is the producer, and I can't know who that is?
Shavon: Our producers change frequently, but the trade names are property of Kroger and not released to the public at this time.
Me: Why can't you know how the can is made?
Shavon: That information is private.
Me: I see. So how might I find out what this can lining is, whether it is or isn't BPA? That information is important to me.
Shavon: May I put you on hold? I'll see whether this is information that the next level might be able to provide.
And I'm put on hold for about 4 minutes. The muzac is better, with guitars. Shavon returns, apologizes for the wait.
Shavon: I'd like to get your contact information so that the next level can research your question and get back with you. (We exchange this) You will be contacted in the next few weeks via email with a response to your inquest (yes! She used the word inquest!) Your case number (I get a case number??) is 18528977. (I post it here in case any one else wants to know). You can call 1-800-Kroger at any time and select "product" to receive information about the processing of your case.
Me: Thank you. You've been very helpful. This is perfect.
And yes, I don't mind if anyone else wants to follow up on this case. I will. Because I'd just like to know what IS lining the can, whether it be BPA or BPB or oleoresin or nothing. Call me curious now, especially since effort has been made to keep me from knowing. I get tenacious when I am denied. My family says its stubbornness. I say it's focus.
I am reminded of the statement I quoted much earlier, from SPI, the Society of Plastics Industry, that they don't want the resin recycling labels to influence customer purchasing decisions; in much the same manner, apparently the lining resin is not required to be disclosed either, lest the consumer (note: not a customer, not a person) choose to buy something else. Go grab a can out of the cupboard. Look at it. It has information about the nutritive value of the contents, instructions on cooking, a chemical listing of all the component bits--except what the container is made of. Is that steel? Or alumnium? It has a lining, I can pretty much guarantee that--but what is it made of? Should you be concerned? One can won't hurt...but if I feed my kids at least three meals a week with this stuff for their whole childhoods...will they be getting more than protein and farts from the beans?
Does Jesus care?
If you're really paying attention to Lent, then you might know that coming up this Sunday is the Year A Lectionary reading about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead--and that THIS is why Jesus (in this gospel at least) is plotted against to die: because he flaunted the power of death, he challenged the status quo, he took the power that belonged to him and he defied Empire --not just the Roman Empire, but also the corrupt rule of the priestly class and the domination of death as a social control, of all that controlled how they lived their short, hard lives. Jesus dared to defy the laws that were to control him: religious laws, social laws, and natural laws. Jesus stood his ground for healing and restoration, even when it meant going against the 'natural' order of things--and this power was downright dangerous to those in change.
Think I'm off the deep end? Ask Walter Bruggeman. Ask Karl Barth. Ask James Cone. This is standard-issue anti-empire, anti-fascist, liberation-laced theology. It's about a God that really actually cares that all is not right in the world, that really gives a damn about hell on earth.
This same 'empire' is still around today, seeking above all else power for the elite, and powerlessness for the poor, the hungry, and the marginalized. Make no mistake, because there is information I am not ALLOWED to have, because I might do something with it (namely, not consume that which I have been told to consume), there is "empire" at work here. It is a force that is not concerned with my health and well being; it is concerned with maximizing profits while incurring the least costs to doing business. Who are these producers? Why am I not allowed to know?
Jesus cares enough to go to Lazarus, to nod along when doubting Thomas bemaons Eeyore-like: “Let us also go, that we may die with him,” because to go to Lazarus was to choose to resist and to choose to be killed fore it. It is resistance to the forces that wish to control rather than free, to own rather than share, that Jesus offiers. A way to resist, and to find life in the resisting.
Whew! That got sassy fast.
And on that note, goodnight.
Marie
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