BPA: It's What's For Dinner

Right on the heels of a recent study revealing that some canned foods contain concerning levels of Bisphenol A (BPA) -- a known toxin and endocrine disruptor to humans -- I made an enchilada casserole. Half of the ingredients came from cans. What's not pictured is a giant tray of roasted acorn squash, that made up the other half of the ingredients. The name alone makes me cringe a little, but it was inspired by a local delicatessen that sold theirs at $9/pound. The delicatessen casserole was pretty tasty, mine was equally as delicious and probably cost a total of $8 (including the fresh squash).

I'm not usually one for all-out casseroles, but the soggy tortillas packed with a ton of vegetables was exactly what I needed while healing from my wisdom teeth battle wounds. When getting up enough courage to look at the spots where my teeth used to be, it was indeed a horrifying war zone. When I was a kid, my mom used scold me for a messy play area by exclaiming "Your room looks like downtown Beirut!" -- a reference that I didn't understand until much later in life. I chuckled to myself last week in the mirror (probably because of the Percocet-induced fog) and whispered a similar sentiment about the civil war that occurred in my face.

Oh yeah, back to the BPA casserole. It was an act of post-wisdom-teeth-removal desperation for anything other than smoothies or soup. It was also an effort to give my poor husband relief from my constant crankiness onset by pain and hunger. Delicious it was, photogenic it was not -- probably because I really didn't care to even try to capture it in any pleasing way. There you are. Casserole on the stove. What? I was tired after opening all of those cans. All jokes aside, I have nothing against a good casserole now and again. Some of my best dishes are essentially casseroles, like my chicken purloo and jambalaya. However, they usually all contain fresh ingredients as opposed to canned.

As for the cans, I'm pretty bummed to find out the potential hazzards. We are all aware of BPA, given the extensive media coverage over the past year or two for its presence in plastic bottles, particularly baby bottles, and the heightened risks to developing organs and for developing certain types of cancers. I never really thought that the same plastic that was lauded in water bottles might be the same wonder liner that prevents our cans from leeching gross metal flavors into food. However, I'm learning that it isn't as simple as it seems, certain processed foods lauded as "organic" and "BPA-free" packaging still contained trace amounts of the compound.

I personally rely heavily on canned tomatoes to make homemade tomato sauces during the fall and winter months. It's just one more reason for me to wonder what the hell our FDA really does anymore? It's also troubling to think about the kids who grow up in households that rely heavily on canned foods for a bulk of their vegetables, especially in areas that aren't fortunate enough to have affordable fresh markets at their disposal.