If you’ve been following my blog for the past week you’ve probably read some of my previous posts regarding canned foods and the toxic preservatives that are added to nearly all of them. Here is a real quick recap on a few brands:
Canned Foods Without BPA:
Trader Joe’s: Corn, tomatoes, beans (except baked beans), tuna fish, anchovies, poultry, beef, coconut milk, fruit (except mandarins), and vegetables (except artichoke).
Hunt’s: Tomato products (only their plain tomatoes)
Amy’s: All tomato based soups and canned products (as of March 1st)
Canned Foods With BPA:
Eden Foods: canned tomato products (look for glass jars)
Trader Joe’s: All soups, chilis and stews, mandarin oranges, artichokes (buy ones in their glass jars), sardines, oysters, and organic baked beans.
These brands line their cans with BPA: Annie’s, Bionature, Brad’s, Muir Glen, and Westbrae.
Additional Information:
Whole Foods canned products: 27% do not contain BPA and %73 do- it is not clear which products they are.
Campbell Soups are planning to phase out of BPA lined cans, but a date or time frame was not released (they only said “soon”)
Nature’s One has no BPA-free canned products currently other than their powdered baby milk.
Muir Glen is only just starting to phase out BPA, and only their tomato products.
Buy products in glass jars whenever possible. Even plastic has BPA; #7 is the worst, #1 is the best. All plastic leaches chemical toxins.
I don’t know about you but I can live without canned products. And there are some brands out there that are safe from BPA, so it’s not like I have to give them up entirely. However, there are a few canned products that most people have come to rely pretty heavily on, including myself, and I’ve been wondering how will I continue to cook certain recipes without these canned products?
For example, condensed cream soups. I believe that these only come in the form of a can, yet I use them regularly. And what of cake frosting? True it does not come in an aluminum can, but these are full of additives and chemicals no less, and some of the packaging contains foil-like aluminum. And let’s not forget products that list “natural flavor” in the list of ingredients.
What are our alternatives? Well, as a matter of fact I happen to have some 
Cream Soup Mix
This is an easy to make mix that is great to keep on hand. It’s a great substitute for canned cream soup in a recipe.
2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken bouillon granules
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. pepper
*In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container.
*For a condensed cream soup substitute: Whisk 1/3 cup mix and 1-1/4 cups water in a small saucepan until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool. (This will substitute for one regular-sized Campbell’s condensed cream soup can.)
Cream Cheese Frosting
This is a great frosting that goes wonderful on all cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and sweet breads.
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
*In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.
Make sure you check out Fantabulous Friday this week and see what great St. Patrick’s Day dessert I made using this frosting recipe!
