BPA in Thanksgiving Canned Food: Results
In November 2011, the Breast Cancer Fund released product testing data from seven typical Thanksgiving canned food products, purchased in four states. We found bisphenol A, the estrogenic chemical linked to breast cancer in lab studies, in most samples. Our test results are detailed below.
For more information about our report, BPA in Thanksgiving Canned Food, or to access a PDF of the complete report, click here.
Canned Item |
Calif. |
Mass. |
Minn. |
N.Y. |
| Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup |
43 | 30 | 83 | 57 |
| Campbell's Turkey Gravy | 57 | 9 | 125 | 5 |
| Carnation Evaporated Milk (Nestlé) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Del Monte Fresh Cut Sweet Corn, Cream Style | 4 | 79 | 221 | Below Detection |
| Green Giant Cut Green Beans (General Mills) | 5 | 7 | 18 | 3 |
| Libby's Pumpkin (Nestlé) | 3 | 38 | 42 | 54 |
| Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce |
Below Detection |
Below Detection |
Below Detection |
Below Detection |
Testing Notes
For this report, the Breast Cancer Fund sent 28 canned food items—four cans each of seven typical Thanksgiving canned food products—to Anresco Laboratories, an independent testing laboratory in San Francisco.
The Breast Cancer Fund and our partner organizations purchased a set of each of the seven products from current stock at regionally well-known grocery outlets in four states: California, Massachusetts, New York and Minnesota. All products were well within the recommended "best if used by" dates printed on the cans.
We tested for BPA levels in the food. Contents of each sample were removed, pureed in BPA-free materials, and assessed for BPA levels using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS). The estimated limit of detection was 1 microgram/kg (1 part per billion, or ppb). (See the appendix for detailed testing methodology.)
