# Canned food= birth defects?



## katepants

So somebody told me that canned tomato products during pregnancy are really bad, because a lot of metal cans contain BPA, and the acidity of tomato products can wear town the tin, causing BPA to be released into food, which we know is BAD!
So I think ok, i'm in the clear because I haven't had any canned tomato, and knowing this I'll make sure I don't.
I got to thinking, I'm going through an obsession with cold canned mandarin oranges, and citrus is really acidic too! So after some research, tons of studies are saying pregnant women shouldn't have ANY canned fruits or vegetables, because the risk the potentially high levels of BPA can pose to the little growing/developing brain and nervous system in baby. 
I've had quite a few LARGE cans of these oranges. I'm going to ask my OB about it, but I'm terrified i've done some kind of harm without realizing it :cry:


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## megangrohl

Ummmm no. Everyone believes differently but I've been having soups all throughout my pregnancy and my baby is happy, healthy, and has no defects. Don't beleive everything that you read. Yes maybe in high amounts, its bad but I doubt that eating canned stuff in moderation is bad. So everything has to be made from scratch? If thats the case than we cant eat anything bought in stores since alot is canned.

That being said, I buy all my vegetables fresh or frozen and the only canned stuff I eat is soup.


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## katepants

megangrohl said:


> Ummmm no. Everyone believes differently but I've been having soups all throughout my pregnancy and my baby is happy, healthy, and has no defects. Don't beleive everything that you read. Yes maybe in high amounts, its bad but I doubt that eating canned stuff in moderation is bad. So everything has to be made from scratch? If thats the case than we cant eat anything bought in stores since alot is canned.
> 
> That being said, I buy all my vegetables fresh or frozen and the only canned stuff I eat is soup.

I agree, but I think I may have gone beyond moderation, these are BIG cans, and I've been having one at least every other day. I thought it was BS when he first told me but there are actually quite a few different studies about it!


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## cera

ohh, I will be watching this thread as I have become addicted to those cans of mixed fruit every afternoon.


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## megangrohl

Well I dunno. Wouldn't this be something your doctor would tell you if it was serious? I have 1 can everyday of soup and there is no defects with my baby.


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## jenmcn1

Ok ... depends what studies you have read. There are NUMEROUS studies out there that go both ways. That being said...I do agree with you to stay away from canned foods. Not only because of the tin cans...but because of the high salt content and sugar content. Which neither is good for you or baby. Doesn't mean it will cause birth defects though. I try my hardest to eat organic...but I can't always afford that...so I do what I can in hopes that I give my baby the best chance at life. There are view points that support both sides of the arguement. Just think....in moderation...thats the key part. You will be totally fine hun! I just think of all the pregnant women out there who are struggling with addiction problems, and eat HORRIBLE food their whole pregnancy..usually end up with healthy babies. Somehow the body just knows what to do. And it is also a fact that if there IS something bad that you consume, that the blood re-routes it so it doesn't reach the baby.


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## amore

I have never heard of this. All I ate in the last two months of my last pregnancy (literally) was tinned tomatoes and grilled mushrooms as it was the only food I could eat and ds1 has no problems. Please dont worry about the tins of oranges you have eaten hun I am sure its fine xx


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## NuKe

personally i think it's a load of tripe! if it was that bad it would be on the naughty list, there would be warnings out there etc! im basically ignoring the naughty list anyway.


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## bananaz

If eating canned food directly resulted in birth defects then birth defects would be WAY more common than they are. It's possible that some cans do contain harmful substances but obviously they're not harmful enough to significantly impact the vast majority of the population, so unless you've been eating several of those large cans of oranges every day throughout your pregnancy I very much doubt you have anything to worry about.


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## Maviyildiz

I think it is a good idea to avoid BPAs, (I NEVER eat canned food, even not pregant) Still, I wouldn't worry about this too much if it were me, and that is coming from someone with a hard core fear of environmental toxins!

This is just what I think intuitively: I think that there may be a raised risk, but if it were a BIG risk, we would be seeing alot more birth defects, as most American or Canadian women consume quite a few canned goods. (Especially canned tomatoes!)


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## miaplus2

im no expert but with both my lo's ive eaten tinned tomatoes and fruit and both my girls are happy and health and no defects...i wouldnt panic


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## Maviyildiz

btw, what brand where you oranges? Some companies have stopped using bpa's in their cans...maybe you haven't even been exposed!


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## katepants

megangrohl said:


> Well I dunno. Wouldn't this be something your doctor would tell you if it was serious? I have 1 can everyday of soup and there is no defects with my baby.

That's another issue I had with it. I'm sure more people would be aware of this "danger". Kind of like how everyone knows not to eat too much tuna due to mercury. My girl is fine, had many scans and the 20 week anomaly and she is just perfect, VERY active, too.


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## megangrohl

Yeah, I think that what everyone else is saying rings true. I am Canadian and I don't eat very much canned foods other than my one soup per day, sometimes 2. I eat all fresh foods, or frozen. At my anatomy scan she was perfect and had no defects and she is still growing just fine at almost 26 weeks. Surely I think that there is a worse risk of lack of nutrients by eating fast food daily then canned foods. Thats another thing I stay away from because its purely disgusting. Bottom line, everything in moderation is the key. And if it was a huge concern then all doctors/obgyn's would be telling all their pregnancy patients and adding it to the no-no list.


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## superfrizbee

Sounds like rubbish. I bet you can find a study for anything on the internet. My midwife went through all the food rules, and canned stuff never came up at all. Can't imagine all the stuff they put in plastic packaging is much better than tinned!


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## katepants

I REALLY appreciate you ladies responding. I feel sort of silly now! All very good points, I suppose I just slightly panicked seeing how much I LOVE them right now, and my diet is already super restricted due to having a messed up gallbladder and passing gallstones! So I'm thinking...REALLY? One more thing I love that I can't eat?! Haha. I think I'll have some today in fact! I'll cut down though :thumbup:


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## megangrohl

Just try not to read/google everything because you will ALWAYS find negative stuff. I never google anything, other than seeing my babys growth/weekly update. If ever in doubt call your OBGYN! :)


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## Maviyildiz

Ok, I just have to say a bit more--
I definately think you shouldn't really worry (I will just repeat that :) )

But for everyone who has proclaimed it ridiculous, I feel like I need to point out that the concern about bpa isn't a bunch of radicals, it is a pretty main stream issue. Lots of countries have banned its use in things for children--and France is proposing that all food items containing BPAs have warning labels directed at pregnant women. 

I don't think it is anything to panic about, but I don't think it is crazy to be aware of it either.


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## katepants

Maviyildiz said:


> Ok, I just have to say a bit more--
> I definately think you shouldn't really worry (I will just repeat that :) )
> 
> But for everyone who has proclaimed it ridiculous, I feel like I need to point out that the concern about bpa isn't a bunch of radicals, it is a pretty main stream issue. Lots of countries have banned its use in things for children--and France is proposing that all food items containing BPAs have warning labels directed at pregnant women.
> 
> I don't think it is anything to panic about, but I don't think it is crazy to be aware of it either.

Like Like Like Like Like, LIKE! Thank you :thumbup:


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## Serenyx

It is something I was made aware of early on in my pregnancy so I have cut down on the amount of canned food I eat. We a;lways used to use fresh or frozen veg but could be lazy and buy canned potatoes. so now we just buy those fresh too, same with other products that come in jars - I will now buy it in a glass jar rather than a tin. However i'm not going overboard, I don't have a clue what my canteen at work uses and I still eat their food ;)


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## Serenyx

It is something I was made aware of early on in my pregnancy so I have cut down on the amount of canned food I eat just to be on the safe side. We always used to use fresh or frozen veg but could be lazy and buy canned potatoes. So now we just buy those fresh too, same with other products that come in jars - I will now buy it in a glass jar rather than a tin. However i'm not going overboard, I don't have a clue what my canteen at work uses and I still eat their food ;)


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## megangrohl

How much is too much though? I'm not saying its ludacris. I'm just saying that they shouldn't scare people without having anything told to most people by their doctors.


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## loverguts

I've always made sure that my little boy's bottles/jucie cups etc etc have been BPA free but never really thought of it as a problem for myself.

I don't think i would be much at risk anyway, i eat mainly fresh food etc, but i think that anyone who DOES eat a lot of tinned food doesn't really need to worry. I know plenty of people who live on tinned food and have had perfectly healthy babies :)


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## naitken

https://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/pubs/securit/bpa_survey-enquete-can-con-eng.php


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## veganmama

well it may or may not cause bd depending on how sensitive your baby is. i would personally avoid the canned food just to reduce overall chemical exposure. glass is best and they have awesome tasting things in glass jars =]


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## Arisa

wouldnt there be a big sign on canned foods in supermarkets then? you know how there are warnings on alcohol and cigarettes because of the risk of damage?
surely canned tomatoes are not a risk or millions of women who have had children for years would all have children with defects :/


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## megangrohl

Naitken thanks for the link it was very informative. The products I consume have 14 units which is very low. Phew! And the most high amounts seem to do is behavioral problems in females as bpa mimics estrogen. So they say....


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## PoodleMommy

You can stop panicking about birth defects, but BPA is something we should be aware of for more reasons than that. It can cause hormone disruption which can lead to things like infertility, breast cancer, thyroid issues, etc. etc. So, I would recommend that everyone be aware of this, pregnant or not, and most definitely aim not to feed BPA-contaminated foods to your children. (Trust me, I researched BPA up, down and sideways when I was diagnosed with pre-invasive breast cancer two years ago! This is nothing to fool around with!)


Maviyildiz said:


> Ok, I just have to say a bit more--
> I definately think you shouldn't really worry (I will just repeat that :) )
> 
> But for everyone who has proclaimed it ridiculous, I feel like I need to point out that the concern about bpa isn't a bunch of radicals, it is a pretty main stream issue. Lots of countries have banned its use in things for children--and France is proposing that all food items containing BPAs have warning labels directed at pregnant women.
> 
> I don't think it is anything to panic about, but I don't think it is crazy to be aware of it either.

Well said!


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## PoodleMommy

Arisa said:


> wouldnt there be a big sign on canned foods in supermarkets then? you know how there are warnings on alcohol and cigarettes because of the risk of damage?
> 
> surely canned tomatoes are not a risk or millions of women who have had children for years would all have children with defects :/

That's the goal -- to get it to be illegal to have BPA in cans and other food containers, or at least to have a warning label while it's being phased out. Remember, doctors used to recommend cigarettes to their patients too... *just because something is currently legal or doesn't come with a warning label yet, doesn't mean it's safe.*

BTW, I remember watching a documentary on the increase of babies born with genital deformities like hermaphroditism. Hmm, could it possibly have anything to do with the amount of BPA's we're all exposed to? I know that BPA's and other plastics that are known hormone disrupters, when dumped into rivers and lakes, cause frogs and other small creatures to actually change genders. Is that really something we want to expose ourselves and our babies to? Food for thought! :flower:

Here's some more info about BPA:

In the late 1930's, scientists discovered that BPA acted as an artificial estrogen. The estrogen impostor would have been used as a pharmaceutical hormone but a more potent synthetic estrogen called DES was invented, precluding the use of BPA. In what should have been a warning signal to the potential toxicity of BPA, DES was taken off the market when it was linked to reproductive cancers in babies born to mothers taking the chemical. (Decades later, similar toxic properties are being linked to BPA.)

The use of BPA in plastics would not take place for another twenty years. In the 1950's BPA began to appear in plastic consumer products throughout the world. For over 60 years, BPA has been used in the manufacturing of plastic without any law or regulation establishing its safety. In fact, although the Toxic Substances Control Act was passed by congress in 1976, it labeled BPA a "grandfather" chemical which means is was never evaluated and presumed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency.

*How does BPA find its way into our bodies?*

BPA has been known to leach from plastics and can linings into our food and beverages. Studies have proven that heat (by microwaving, sterilizing, boiling or washing) accelerates this leaching. Researchers have shown concern that infants and children exposed to the chemical through re-usable baby bottles and baby formula are at a much higher risk to the adverse effects of BPA.

*Why is BPA a concern?*

As previously mentioned, BPA is a hormone disruptor that can interfere with the normal functioning of the endocrine system. It is also a building block of PC plastic, which is used in a slew of products that hold or are meant to hold food and beverages. BPA leaches from these products into our food and drink, exposing the population to the toxic chemical. Studies have linked BPA exposures, at low-dose levels, with a wide range of adverse effects including reproductive, behavioral and developmental problems.

Despite its dangers, however, BPA has been used in the manufacturing of PC plastic and can linings for over 60 years. The use of these plastics and lining today is incredibly widespread.

BPA is one of the highest-volume chemicals produced worldwide. In 2003 alone, over 6 billion pounds of BPA were used to manufacture PC plastic products, resin lining cans, dental sealants, and polyvinyl chloride plastic products. The ester bond linking BPA molecules undergoes hydrolysis, resulting in the release of BPA into food, beverages, and the environment. Human exposure to BPA is so widespread that a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detected BPA in more than 93 percent of Americans. 

_Source:_ https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/bpa/what_is_bpa.php

...and people wonder why there has been such a huge rise over the past 60 years in cancer, obesity, infertility, etc.!


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## LittleBoSheep

I eat canned food every single day most meals are made with 2-3 cans of veggies and yes even canned tomatoes for my chili ;) little bubs is doing just fine in there kicking around and measuring bigger than he's supposed to! No defects and no complications :)
I don't think the risk is very high so go ahead and enjoy your canned food :)


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## AveryATL

I don't think that BPA will cause birth defects, but I do think that there ARE long-term effects of it that may not show up until later in life. IMO, BPA is pretty nasty, and I am trying to avoid it as much as possible, not just while I am pregnant, but just in general. 

I also only eat organic dairy products, because the hormones they put in them in the US are pretty scary (they are banned in the UK). We also try to eat as much free-range/organic meat for the same reason. 

Just because it is sold doesn't mean it is good for you. At least in the US, the lawmakers do not always work in the best interest of the consumer, when the lobby industry is so large.


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