The reason why tomatoes, peas, sardines, tunas, and other foods are packed in cans is for easy transport and access to consumers. People regularly shop at the grocery stores and they can just grab several from the shelves. It is one way to keep foods remain fresh and edible. But there are actually disadvantages of canned foods and you’ll learn of those truths below.
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How the cans are processed technically provide health benefits. Foods inside cans are sealed in which temperature occurs. If this happens, there is heat and that kills bacteria. This is a good thing about canned foods.
What about the materials used in cans? Are they safe to the healthy or to the body? What happens if the cans become old and rusty? Is it possible to become harmful to the foods, and eventually to the body?
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Foods in cans remain edible after a year up to two. They may still have the nutrient contents or value, but the taste, as well as color and texture can become different. This may discourage you from eating any. But that’s not what you have to be concerned about.
Most canned foods have high levels of sodium, which is dangerous to the health. Average amount of this chemical is safe because it helps control blood pressure, but if it is increased, hypernatremia happens and can cause permanent damage to the nerve cells.
Another danger in a canned food is the presence of bacteria named clostridium botulinum. This causes botulism, a type of food poisoning that may lead to sudden death in a person who may have contact.
There is also a possible bisphenol-A or BPA and phthalates in cans that store foods. Both of these substances are bad as they can copy the hormones of the human body. These are usually found at the lining of the cans.
BPA is known to have good advantages as it can help protect foods from getting contaminated with microbial. Yet, recent studies have proven that they impose risks to the health, especially in children and pregnant women. It is believed to affect the development of the brain and cause aggressive behaviors. Worse is that it can also cause cancer during the later years of a person’s life.
It is quite a gamble to use canned foods because there are BPA free products, and no or little sodium content. You may need to be more careful when buying foods in cans. This just suggests that you can still get some foods that are packed in cans without worrying the health risks as discussed above. You must read the labels, especially ingredients, and found out which manufacturing companies do make cans that have no BPA.
Before serving or eating canned foods, it is a good idea to heat and pre-cook them first. This ensures that any bacteria left in the cans or foods are killed. It makes you less prone to any side effects and poisoning of contaminated foods.
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The best solution is to go fresh in foods. You can find so many organic products that are not processed and packed at all. This is much safer and contains no BPA at all. Although experts have studied and proven that some foods in cans, like tomatoes, are actually much better than fresh ones, other foods or ingredients should be bought without packed in cans. Some other foods are much better packed than cans, like those in jars or bottles, and boxes. Sometimes, prevention is the real key toward making yourself free from any harm or danger.
