What are some good alternatives to
plastic storage containers,
particularly for the freezer?
On Aug 15, 2009, at 3:42 PM, Tradingpost wrote:
>
> Hold the plastic: Consumers are ingesting more than they bargain
> for, through food packaging
>
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Food/Hold-the-plastic
>
> Susan Meadows | For The New Mexican
>
> 8/11/2009 - 8/12/09
> Every time you pick up the newspaper it seems there is something
> else you shouldn't eat. Remember when everyone switched to
> margarine, except for those of us who thought it tasted like
> spreadable plastic?
>
> And then there were those of us who didn't buy margarine who had
the
> last laugh — well, I didn't actually laugh because it was all too
> sinister — when we learned that trans-fats (hydrogenated oils)
> concocted in corporate laboratories made butter look like a
health
> food ... which it probably is in small amounts. Yet I watched
people
> like my parents eliminate every natural fat from their diet in
their
> quest to be healthier and to live longer. What disturbs me most,
> however, is that I watch these same people (and I do mean you,
Mom)
> eating plastic on a regular basis. And in this case, I don't mean
> butter substitutes. I mean plastic. And plastic is something you
> shouldn't eat.
>
> Plastic alphabet soup
>
> Technically speaking, I mean plasticizers — small molecules, most
of
> which belong to a chemical group known collectively as phthalates
—
> which, besides being toxic, may win some sort of prize for its
long
> series of uninterrupted consonants. Plasticizers generally impart
> flexibility to plastic. Without them, plastic would shatter like
> glass. Bisphenol A or BPA is also a plasticizer — though not a
> phthalate — but shares an important property with them that
should
> be discussed further. You've heard of BPA because Congress banned
it
> from children's toys a year ago. Recently I've noticed a lot of
> stainless-steel water bottles back on the market, thanks to BPA.
> Congress also banned six phthalates from those toys at the same
> time; but no one seemed to notice.
>
> I started eliminating plastics from my kitchen about a decade ago.
I
> wasn't smarter than anyone else. I just had more information.
Back
> in the '80s, when I was a graduate student in the Toxicology
> Department at the University of Arizona, phthalates were already
> widely known to be 1) nearly ubiquitous environmental
contaminants
> routinely found in human urine, blood and milk, and 2) associated
> with wide-ranging toxic effects — including cancer — when they
were
> tested individually in laboratory animal studies.
>
> We also know that phthalates, like BPA, don't stay in the
plastic.
> The EPA notes matter-of-factly that DEHP — the acronym for just
one
> of many phthalate plasticizers — "migrates from plastic into food
> during processing and storage." Ever notice that warning about
not
> letting the plastic wrap touch food in the microwave? I bet you
> ignore it. I bet like most people, including my mother, you wrap
> food directly in plastic wrap and pop it in the microwave or the
> refrigerator. You probably use plastic food-storage containers,
> plastic microwave-safe dishes, plastic water bottles, plastic
> utensils and cups, eat canned food (they are plastic-lined), and
> drink milk that comes in plastic jugs.
>
> Why shouldn't you? Because phthalates and BPA belong to a large
> group of compounds known as endocrine disrupters. They alter the
> function of the endocrine system, which includes the reproductive
> organs, the hypothalamus and the thyroid. In short, they act like
> hormones.
>
> Hormones, as anyone who has ever seen a birth-control pill knows,
> have very powerful effects at very low doses. As a contractor for
> the EPA more than 10 years ago, I learned that endocrine
disrupters
> were emerging as a major bad-boy environmental contaminant — one
> that might alter the ability of animals and plants to reproduce
and
> function normally. And endocrine disrupters are everywhere — in
> pesticides, industrial chemicals and consumer products such as
> plastics. We just don't know if effects that are suspected to be
> occurring in nature as a result of these pollutants are also
> occurring in humans from exposure to these compounds in our food.
>
> If the EPA and the FDA aren't worried yet, then why am I picking
on
> plasticizers in the kitchen? Why did I toss my Tupperware years
ago?
> After all, the whole topic is considered controversial. I have
even
> seen the problem dismissed as an urban legend on the Internet. As
a
> toxicologist, there are several facts that concern me:
>
> 1) We know broad exposure to plasticizers is occurring;
>
> 2) The potential for exposure to plasticizers from multiple
sources
> is very high to certain;
>
> 3) Plasticizers are demonstrated to have the type of toxic effect
> (endocrine disruption) that requires only very low exposure levels;
>
> 4) There are at least 25 phthalates used in different products,
but
> EPA human-exposure limits are based on presumed exposure to one
> single compound at a time;
>
> 5) Studies on the effects of simultaneous exposure to multiple
> compounds — even prescription drugs — are rare, so we know
virtually
> nothing about the effect of this broad exposure to multiple
> plasticizers;
>
> 6) The types of toxic effects found in animal studies of
phthalates
> are wide-ranging and serious;
>
> 7) High human levels of phthalates have been correlated with
> obesity, heart disease, reproductive dysfunction and cancer —
> diseases that some studies indicate are on the rise. While such
> correlation does not prove cause and effect, it is disturbing.
>
> Saying no to plastics
>
> The bottom line for me is that I care what I eat. I mostly shop
> organic or natural, and I buy mostly fresh, unprocessed food. If
I
> don't want to eat or feed my family and guests pesticides, extra
> salt and other additives, then why would I knowingly eat or feed
> anybody else plasticizers?
>
> Your kitchen is a laboratory. The traditional materials used in
> laboratories are glass, ceramics and stainless steel, because
these
> materials are relatively inert and do not affect the results of
> laboratory experiments, so they won't contaminate your food,
either.
>
> A return to these once-traditional kitchen materials for our own
> cooking and storage is the easy part. Convincing manufacturers
that
> we don't want plasticizers with our food — whether it's plastic-
> lined cans, canning lids, pizza boxes or butcher paper — will
take
> more work, but consumer demand will be the only thing that
changes
> the marketplace. That's what happened to bring about the sudden
boon
> of stainless-steel water bottles (ironically, many are plastic-
> lined) and the ban on certain plasticizers in toys.
>
> Ask questions. Be a demanding consumer. It was demanding
consumers
> who created the organic-food market. If you could say no to
> pesticides, then you can say, "I don't want any plastic with
that,"
> too.
>
> More on plasticizers
>
> If you are interested in this topic and would like more
> information, the Endocrine Society — the professional
organization
> for endocrinology clinicians and researchers — published two
> documents this year concerning endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
They
> are available to the public as downloadable pdf files online. See
> EDC_Scientific_Statement.pdf and EDC_Policy_Statement.pdf at
www.endo-society.org
> . BPA is directly referenced in the policy statement and BPA and
> phthalates are discussed in detail in the scientific statement.
>
>
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