Can Dos and Don’ts

With the recent discovery by Consumer Reports that the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA), which could have certain adverse health effects, including an increased risk of breast and prostate cancers, is present in a wide range of name-brand canned foods, CPG companies — and not just those whose canned goods were identified as containing BPA — should quickly shift into damage-control mode to reassure skittish consumers.

For a start, those promoting that their products are BPA-free should make sure they’re exactly that — no more and no less. The Consumer Reports tests found that several cans with labels touting that they didn’t contain the chemical in their linings actually did, which, if true, is a serious breach of consumer trust. Rebuilding the public’s confidence in a company’s products begins and ends with truth in advertising.

For those whose canned products admittedly contain BPA, perhaps the time has come to remove it, as a gesture to the understandable concerns of shoppers. The actual harmfulness of the chemical, as well as what a safe level of exposure to it is, has been the subject of some debate, but given that bills are pending in Congress that would ban its use in all food and beverage containers, manufacturers should move proactively to show that they care about consumers’ health. Although can linings aren’t the only source of exposure to BPA, which is also present in such items as consumer electronics and PVC water pipes, a study in Japan found that BPA levels in subjects’ urine dropped by 50 percent after most manufacturers in that country agreed to stop using it in can linings. This result suggests that can linings are a major contributor to high (and possibly unsafe) BPA levels in people.

It’s absolutely true, as some companies may argue, that many consumers pay little or no attention to the chemical makeup of the packaging their foods come in, but all it takes are a few vocal people to get a whole lot of otherwise uninterested folks to sit up and take notice. These previously unengaged shoppers may become just (mis)informed enough to associate a certain product with danger — which is exactly the sort of publicity no self-respecting (not to mention money-making) CPG company can afford.

So, although a few manufacturers may grumble about the costs of eliminating BPA from their can linings, but the potential cost of a mass consumer defection to products they feel they can trust may end up being far higher.