I am not sure why I was so oblivious to this when I am so anal about not using plastic in the microwave, and am working to eliminate as much plastic as I can from my life period. And now I can’t remember where I heard or saw the reminder about not using plastics in the nuker and that included frozen meals – UGH! Just when I thought I was on to something to save money from eating out at lunch and found a way to eat a balanced meal to include cooked veggies. Not that these meals had the best taste (probably no thanks to the plastic’s chemicals that leeched into it!), but they were convenient, inexpensive and provided a balanced and well-portioned meal. Ah well, guess it is back to homemade leftovers or some good ole PB&Js (made with natural peanut butter and low or no-sugar jelly of course!)

Speaking of jelly, I bought some natural fruit spread at Whole Foods months ago and wow! It tastes even better without the added sugar and other added junk. Sad they have to add that stuff to conventional jelly and ruin it!

At least the little pizza I am eating for lunch was not cooked in plastic, though not sure what that little silver disc is made out of, or if it is safe. Probably not.

Extended breastfeeding is referred to those who breastfeed their child beyond one year of age. Which is kinda funny since 2 years is the MINIMUM recommended age (by WHO, UNICEF and the American Academy of Family Physicians). There is also lots of research, studies, information, facts and figures that point the the benefits of nursing beyond one year of age.

My 2 year old nurses at bedtime. I am 18 weeks pregnant so she is probably not getting a whole lot. If you had asked me when I was pregnant if I would be nursing a toddler, I would have thought you were nuts. I used to be in the camp that thought nursing beyond a year was “weird.” However, having been through the nursing experience, I see how ignorant I was and how beneficial breastfeeding a toddler is. She is very healthy and we are fortunate that she rarely catches any sickness that goes around at daycare. I truly believe this is because she received and still receives the benefits of breastmilk. 

Here is a page from KellyMom.com that shares some of the benefits of nursing a toddler.

• Although there has been little research done on children who breastfeed beyond the age of two, the available information indicates that breastfeeding continues to be a valuable source of nutrition and disease protection for as long as breastfeeding continues.

• “Human milk expressed by mothers who have been lactating for >1 year has significantly increased fat and energy contents, compared with milk expressed by women who have been lactating for shorter periods. During prolonged lactation, the fat energy contribution of breast milk to the infant diet might be significant.”
  – Mandel 2005

• “Breast milk continues to provide substantial amounts of key nutrients well beyond the first year of life, especially protein, fat, and most vitamins.”
  – Dewey 2001

• In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:
  • 29% of energy requirements
  • 43% of protein requirements
  • 36% of calcium requirements
  • 75% of vitamin A requirements
  • 76% of folate requirements
  • 94% of vitamin B₁₂ requirements
  • 60% of vitamin C requirements

  – Dewey 2001

• Studies done in rural Bangladesh have shown that breastmilk continues to be an important source of vitamin A in the second and third year of life.
  – Persson 1998

• It’s not uncommon for weaning to be recommended for toddlers who are eating few solids. However, this recommendation is not supported by research. According to Sally Kneidel in “Nursing Beyond One Year” (New Beginnings, Vol. 6 No. 4, July-August 1990, pp. 99-103.):

  Some doctors may feel that nursing will interfere with a child’s appetite for other foods. Yet there has been no documentation that nursing children are more likely than weaned children to refuse supplementary foods. In fact, most researchers in Third World countries, where a malnourished toddler’s appetite may be of critical importance, recommend continued nursing for even the severely malnourished (Briend et al, 1988; Rhode, 1988; Shattock and Stephens, 1975; Whitehead, 1985). Most suggest helping the malnourished older nursing child not by weaning but by supplementing the mother’s diet to improve the nutritional quality of her milk (Ahn and MacLean. 1980; Jelliffe and Jelliffe, 197 and by offering the child more varied and more palatable foods to improve his or her appetite (Rohde, 1988; Tangermann, 1988; Underwood, 1985).

References

• The American Academy of Family Physicians notes that children weaned before two years of age are at increased risk of illness (AAFP 2001).

• Nursing toddlers between the ages of 16 and 30 months have been found to have fewer illnesses and illnesses of shorter duration than their non-nursing peers (Gulick 1986).

• “Antibodies are abundant in human milk throughout lactation” (Nutrition During Lactation 1991; p. 134). In fact, some of the immune factors in breastmilk increase in concentration during the second year and also during the weaning process. (Goldman 1983, Goldman & Goldblum 1983, Institute of Medicine 1991).

• Per the World Health Organization, “a modest increase in breastfeeding rates could prevent up to 10% of all deaths of children under five: Breastfeeding plays an essential and sometimes underestimated role in the treatment and prevention of childhood illness.” [emphasis added]

References

• Many studies have shown that one of the best ways to prevent allergies and asthma is to breastfeed exclusively for at least 6 months and continue breastfeeding long-term after that point.

  Breastfeeding can be helpful for preventing allergy by:

  1. reducing exposure to potential allergens (the later baby is exposed, the less likely that there will be an allergic reaction),
  2. speeding maturation of the protective intestinal barrier in baby’s gut,
  3. coating the gut and providing a barrier to potentially allergenic molecules,
  4. providing anti-inflammatory properties that reduce the risk of infections (which can act as allergy triggers).

References

• Extensive research on the relationship between cognitive achievement (IQ scores, grades in school) and breastfeeding has shown the greatest gains for those children breastfed the longest.

References

• According to Sally Kneidel in “Nursing Beyond One Year” (New Beginnings, Vol. 6 No. 4, July-August 1990, pp. 99-103.):
  
  “Research reports on the psychological aspects of nursing are scarce. One study that dealt specifically with babies nursed longer than a year showed a significant link between the duration of nursing and mothers’ and teachers’ ratings of social adjustment in six- to eight-year-old children (Ferguson et al, 1987). In the words of the researchers, ‘There are statistically significant tendencies for conduct disorder scores to decline with increasing duration of breastfeeding.’”

• According to Elizabeth N. Baldwin, Esq. in “Extended Breastfeeding and the Law”: 
  “Breastfeeding is a warm and loving way to meet the needs of toddlers and young children. It not only perks them up and energizes them; it also soothes the frustrations, bumps and bruises, and daily stresses of early childhood. In addition, nursing past infancy helps little ones make a gradual transition to childhood.“

• Baldwin continues: “Meeting a child’s dependency needs is the key to helping that child achieve independence. And children outgrow these needs according to their own unique timetable.” Children who achieve independence at their own pace are more secure in that independence then children forced into independence prematurely.

References

• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that “Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child… Increased duration of breastfeeding confers significant health and developmental benefits for the child and the mother… There is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychologic or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer.” (AAP 2005)

• The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that breastfeeding continue throughout the first year of life and that “Breastfeeding beyond the first year offers considerable benefits to both mother and child, and should continue as long as mutually desired.” They also note that “If the child is younger than two years of age, the child is at increased risk of illness if weaned.” (AAFP 2001)

• A US Surgeon General has stated that it is a lucky baby who continues to nurse until age two. (Novello 1990)

• The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of nursing up to two years of age or beyond (WHO 1992, WHO 2002).

• Scientific research by Katherine A. Dettwyler, PhD shows that 2.5 to 7.0 years of nursing is what our children have been designed to expect (Dettwyler 1995).

References [see also position statements supporting breastfeeding]

• Extended nursing delays the return of fertility in some women by suppressing ovulation (References).

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer (References). Studies have found a significant inverse association between duration of lactation and breast cancer risk.

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of ovarian cancer (References).

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of uterine cancer (References).

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of endometrial cancer (References).

• Breastfeeding protects against osteoporosis. During lactation a mother may experience decreases of bone mineral. A nursing mom’s bone mineral density may be reduced in the whole body by 1 to 2 percent while she is still nursing. This is gained back, and bone mineral density may actually increase, when the baby is weaned from the breast. This is not dependent on additional calcium supplementation in the mother’s diet. (References).

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. (References).

• Breastfeeding has been shown to decrease insulin requirements in diabetic women (References).

• Breastfeeding moms tend to lose weight easier (References).

Page last modified: 01/04/2006
Written: 3/12/98

Extended Breastfeeding Links @

Extended Breastfeeding References @

Amen to this!! Turns out mom and grandma were right all along; eat your fruits and veggies! One interesting point in the article is that the lung cancer rate for smokers taking a supplement with beta carotene actually increased. But no such finding have been discovered with eating food. Very interesting. So ditch unnecessary diet pills, supplements, etc. and enjoy some fresh fruits and vegetables. They are naturals vitamins, health improvers and they taste good too.

Of course there are many more ways to improve health and protect against cancer (like choosing organic foods; cosmetic and personal care products with safe ingredients), but this is a simple and easy first step.

To Produce Good Health, Bite Into Fruit and Veggies
Washington Post
June 25, 2008

Imagine a drug that could whittle your waistline, control blood pressure, keep you regular, protect your heart, strengthen your bones, cut the risk of stroke and possibly help you sidestep some types of cancer. And what if this drug were also easy to obtain and inexpensive, and it even tasted good?

It would be hard to beat, wouldn’t it? There’s no pill with those benefits, but there is food that hits those high nutritional notes. I’m talking, of course, about fruit and vegetables.

Scientists are just beginning to fully understand the power of produce. And the start of summer provides a great opportunity to expand your nutritional horizons by sampling the foods that will come into peak season during the coming months.
Seasonal fruit and vegetables cost less than produce available at other times of year, so they can help stretch your food dollars. Plus, if you pick or grow your own, you can also save money and maybe even burn a few extra calories along the way.

What many people don’t know is that it isn’t only fresh fruit and vegetables that provide health benefits. Studies show that canned, dried and frozen produce have nearly all the same attributes as fresh — provided that you choose products that don’t come slathered with added sugar or laced with lots of extra salt.

Eating more fruit and vegetables sounds like a no-brainer, the kind of common-sense advice that mothers have dished out for generations. Now, 21st-century scientists are beginning to fathom why these foods provide so many benefits.
It has to do with an array of essential vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytonutrients –plant-based substances with tongue-twisting names such as anthocyanins and lycopene. Don’t worry about pronouncing them. All you need to know is that these antioxidants are found in red and deep-pink fruit and vegetables. That means pomegranates, red cabbage, cherries, red peppers, watermelon, red grapes and more. They appear to help reduce the risk of some tumors, including prostate cancer. And that’s just for starters.

Green fruit and vegetables, from avocado, pears and limes to okra, green beans and zucchini, are rich in carotenoids. These substances help preserve vision by protecting the retina and gobble up free radicals to help thwart cancer and aging.

Yellow and orange produce is rich in beta carotene, which is converted by the body into Vitamin A. It boosts immunity and protects vision. Count apricots, bananas, papayas, peaches, carrots and butternut squash in this group, which also packs other nutrients. Pineapple, for example, has bromelain, an enzyme that aids in digestion and reduces bloating.

White vegetables and fruit, from jicama to litchi nuts, contain allicin, which helps control blood pressure and cholesterol and may bolster immunity.

But the superstars seem to be cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, arugula, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, rutabaga, turnips, bok choy, horseradish, wasabi and watercress.

These vegetables contain potent substances that seem to protect against cancer and appear to have antimicrobial activity. In April, scientists reported that substances extracted from broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables thwarted (in the laboratory, at least) the bacteria that cause stomach ulcers as well as 23 of 28 other common microbes and fungi. There’s also evidence that eating cruciferous vegetables may help counteract the suspected cancer-causing chemicals found in grilled food.

Dietary supplement makers have tried to duplicate the health effects of fruit and vegetables, without success. And in one large Scandinavian study, smokers who took supplements with beta carotene had an increased risk of lung cancer compared with those who didn’t take the pills. To date, there have been no reported harmful effects of consuming any of these substances in food.

What makes food better? Scientists believe it comes down to synergy: reactions that take place in the food itself between phytonutrients and vitamins and minerals.
That’s why it’s key to meet the recommended daily intake for fruit and vegetables. Studies suggest that just 25 percent of adults and children in the United States eat enough fruit daily. Only 13 percent get enough vegetables each day.

How much do you need? Forget the old “five-a-day” advice. That was retired in 2005, when the U.S. Dietary Guidelines were updated. Current recommendations are for most adults to eat about two cups daily of fruit (roughly equal to two pieces) and about 2.5 cups of vegetables per day.

The message is simple: If you’re looking for flavor that also is worth its weight in nutritional benefits, reach for fruit and vegetables as often as possible. Or perhaps this Middle Eastern saying puts it best: “A melon for ecstasy!”

This article was in US News and World Report. A new drug regimen helps prevent the HIV virus from being passed from an infected mother to her infant via breastmilk. This is significant particularly for African mothers who rarely formula feed. There, they have little or no access to clean water for mixing formula or sterilizing/cleaning bottles.

Another interesting point of the studies finding is that duration of breastfeeding had no impact on the risk of passing the virus, so limiting the duration of nursing does not offer any further protection. It also said that stopping breastfeeding in an HIV infected infant was harmful.

This is great news and I hope all infected mothers will be able to take advantage of this.

Read the entire article…

And for even more details on the study, this article was posted in Science Daily. It gives a more detailed version of the study. Very interesting stuff!

OK, so that’s not news. But there is an interesting campaign going for the summer encouraging Bay Area/Oakland residents to eliminate or at least reduce their soda consumption this summer.

Some interesting points from the article

“The Center for Weight and Health at UC Berkeley, states that sugared beverage consumption has increased 500 percent over the past five decades — at a rate that roughly corresponds with the increase in overweight children.”

“Gee told the crowd of about 100 gathered for the campaign launch that he’s seen rates of Type 2 diabetes in children multiply during the 20 years he’s been in practice. And he described a recent study concluding that it took the consumption of just 150 excess calories a day to separate the children who became overweight from those who maintained normal weights. ‘And what is 150 calories a day? It’s a can of soda,’ Gee said.”

“…the average teen drinks 750 cans of soda yearly.”

Beverage facts

– Soda is the No. 1 source of sugar in the American diet.

– 30 percent of all calories consumed daily are from sweetened beverages.

– Americans spend $56 billion annually on purchasing nondiet soft drinks.

– U.S. teens consume twice as much soda as milk.

– Drinking just one 20-ounce bottle of soda each day for a year can result in gaining 25 extra pounds.

Read the entire article

I thought this was a good article on ways to still eat healthy with the rising cost of groceries. I put my own comments at the end of each tip in brackets, plus some additional ones at the end. Please feel free to post your own tips in the comments section.

With Grocery costs On the Rise, Can You Afford To Eat Healthy?
by Mary Pickett, M.D., Harvard Medical School
May 27, 2008

Swallow hard—your grocery bill is getting more expensive.

According to a U.S. Government report, this April’s food prices were 14% higher for bread, 13.5% higher for milk, and 5% higher for food overall compared with last year’s prices.  Last month’s food cost increase was the largest in the past 18 years.

I am motivated, as I am sure you are, to find ways to keep my grocery bill in check. At the same time, I want to make sure I am eating healthy. But healthy foods can be expensive!  Is it possible for us to “tighten our belts” in both cost and calories at the same time, and still enjoy eating?

Here are some ways to keep healthy foods in your pantry, and more money in your wallet:

1.      Buy no sodas

Sweetened drinks have a major impact on weight and diabetes. Your body can absorb sweeteners easily, with little digestion. This results in a large spike of insulin in your bloodstream. Experts think that when dramatic insulin spikes occur over and over, this can lead to diabetes.

The Nurses’ Health Study interviewed and examined 50,000 American women in an eight-year period. Women who drank one or more sodas or sweetened drinks daily were almost twice as likely to develop diabetes compared with women who seldom drank soda. The women who drank sodas regularly also were about 10 pounds heavier on average, but the trend towards diabetes did not appear to be explained by weight gain alone. Drinking water (either straight from the tap or filtered at home) is much cheaper than buying soda.

 [I totally agree with Mary here, but I would add all junk food to this category: chips, cookies, snack crackers, etc. These have high calories and fat; and very little nutritional value. Snack on fruits, veggies, yogurt or hummus instead. These are healthy, low-fat, low-calorie options.]

2.      Put a limit on juices

Juices are more natural than sodas, but they pack a lot of sugar and they carry little fiber. They give you calories but they don’t fill you up. Juices should be limited, even for kids.

[I agree, plus too much juice is shown to lead to cavities in children, which adds an expense of another kind.]

3.      Always buy dairy

Milk products are loaded with calcium and are supplemented with vitamin D, both of which are important for bone health. Calcium may also be important for weight loss, although this is an area that needs more study. Keep low-fat or non-fat dairy options on hand all the time. Having basic dairy ingredients and eggs in your refrigerator at all times may enable you to pull together a fairly health and low-cost meal at home instead of eating out.

[Again I agree here, we never run out of yogurt, cheese or milk! Another tip, try plain fat-free yogurt instead of sour cream, it’s a little cheaper, much less fat and I personally prefer the flavor over sour cream. Boiled eggs are fast and easy for breakfast and nothing wrong with having breakfast for dinner!]

4.      Save on meats

I love meat, but you don’t need much of it for a meal. Groceries package meats in large portions, but packaging doesn’t have to determine your serving size. For example, I slice pork-chops into half-thickness slices, because they cook more easily and stretch farther.  Sometimes I will serve ravioli in broth, instead of serving meat on the side—the carnivore in me is satisfied, even though I haven’t eaten a whole serving of meat.

Remember canned fish and clams, which can be lower cost seafood items. Canned tuna is made from “throw-away” tuna fish that are too small to be cut into steaks. Since canned tuna is from younger fish, it has less mercury contamination per serving than you can find in a tuna steak.

[I agree again, though this is a hard one for our carnivore-ic society, including my family. I shop at Whole Foods for meat, so I can get the exact amount I want, rather then having to find a pre-packaged one with the amount I want (never happens). This allows me to control what I make, so it helps control costs. I do only feed my family organic meat. I truly believe there is a benefit to not eating all those hormones and extra pesticides.]

5.      Introducing legumes!

If you don’t regularly cook with beans, lentils, garbanzos, hummus, dal or other legume foods, find a recipe or two that you want to try and bring them into your household. These are a great source of protein and nutrition, and they are cheap.

[Give your toddler some pita and hummus as a snack – we never run out because my 2-year-old eats it daily. It’s her favorite! We love it as well – it’s loaded with protein, its low fat and it’s just all round healthy!]

6.      Is it important to buy organic?

Buying “organic” can steeply increase the price you pay for fruits, vegetables, milk and grains. For many people, this is simply not an option. If you can afford organic foods, are they worth their extra cost? It is hard to say for sure.

The most important difference between organic and non-organic foods is the presence of pesticides. Large exposures to pesticides are known to be dangerous, since pesticides can be toxic to nerves.  But small exposures (like the small exposure you can get from non-organic foods) don’t cause obvious harms.

One study of pre-school children showed that kids who eat an organic foods diet have less organophosphate pesticide measured in their urine, compared with other children. There is no good study that can prove—one way or the other—whether lifelong trace exposure to pesticides can cause human harm. The risk of pesticide exposure might or might not be worth your worry. It is probably not important enough to warrant the extra cost, although it is hard to be sure.

Don’t buy organic foods if you need to cut down on the quantity of fruits and vegetables that you buy in order to afford them. Washing, peeling, freezing and cooking fruits and vegetables eliminate a portion of the pesticides that contaminate them, so these are additional good strategies. Animals that are raised for meat have higher pesticide residue in fat, so removing fat and skin from meat also reduces your pesticide exposure.

If you choose to spend extra on organic foods, buy the organic versions of the fruits and vegetables in the “dirty dozen”—these are the foods that have the most pesticide residue: peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, grapes (imported), spinach, lettuce and potatoes. Experts from the Environmental Working Group say at least half of our pesticide exposure from food comes from these items.

[I don’t agree with everything here. I personally believe there is a lot of benefit to eating organics and limiting exposure to pesticides, especially in young children. While we are not 100% organic, I always buy the organic versions of the dirty dozen, meats and milk. To be perfectly honest, sometimes organics are cheaper than the conventional version (this is rare but have seen it with items such as kiwi). It will also be interesting to see how prices will compare to locally grown items – they don’t have to travel far, one of the main reasons for the drastic increases in food – higher gas prices means it costs more to transport food. Try local farmer’s markets, a farm co-op or the locally grown section at your grocery store. Locally grown does not mean it’s organic, but typically has less pesticides since they do not have to travel far and are usually eaten more quickly.]

7.      Is it important to buy the more expensive hormone-free (r-BGH and r-BST free) milk?

Probably not. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has gone to great lengths to reassure the public that hormones used to boost milk production in cows don’t present a danger. The FDA is probably correct in taking this stand. These hormones, and the hormone that is associated with them in cows (insulin-like growth factor-1, or IGF-1) would create concern if they were digested in a way that they could enter the human bloodstream in significant levels. However, like other complicated proteins, these hormones deteriorate in our digestive tracts when they are exposed to stomach acid and digestive enzymes. Some studies dispute that the hormones are even present in cows’ milk in the first place, after they are injected into the cow. All milk on the grocery shelf—as long as it is pasteurized—is probably safe to buy.

[I do not agree with this either. I do not see how the presence of hormones and pesticides in milk can be beneficial. Also, organic milk tastes so much better to my family, so I am likely to drink more and waste less. The FDA is wrong a lot, so you can’t go just based on that. And they best they can say is conventional milk is “probably” safe, and that’s just not good enough when it comes to the health of my family.]

Whatever you do to reduce your grocery bill, don’t sacrifice fruits and vegetables. They can be expensive, but cutting down on garden foods in is not a good idea. These foods are just so good for you, that this is not the place to save on your grocery bill. Fresh produce is best, but canned or frozen fruits or vegetables have almost equal nutritional value to fresh foods, and they may be less expensive during certain times of the year. Remember that you can freeze vegetables if you don’t eat them right away.

[Agree here again – don’t skimp on fruits and veggies. Eat seasonal fruits and veggies – they are much cheaper in season. You can buy in bulk and share the food and cost with neighbors/family; or you can freeze and eat it during the “off season.” Pick a few items you may regularly eat and start your own garden (i.e. maybe tomatoes, onions, carrots).]

What are your priorities when you shop for groceries, with both health and cost in mind? What tricks do you have to save on healthy foods? What do you leave out of your grocery bag?

Mary Pickett, M.D., is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University where she is a primary care doctor for adults. Her field is Internal Medicine. She is also a Lecturer for Harvard Medical School and a Senior Medical Editor for Harvard Health Publications.

Other tips:
1. Make simple, healthy, low cost meals that will generate leftovers (i.e. spaghetti, shepherds pie).
2. As Dave Ramsey says “rice and beans, beans and rice.” This is good ole meal with or without meat.
3. Buy store brands: I can be brand loyal, but some items you really can’t tell the difference. I get Whole Foods brand milk, store brand butter, sometimes rice, some canned goods (though it’s very rare I buy canned foods since the lining contains BPA).
4. Clip coupons.
5. Watch your grocery’s weekly circular. Plan your meals based on what’s on sale that week.
6. Make a shopping list and stick to it! Do not stray or make impulse buys. I make one exception, if I see an item on sale, or a buy one get one free deal for something I use regularly, I will get the item because I will save in the long run. Pasta sauce for example – we eat spaghetti a lot! Or if ground beef is on sale, I will get a couple extra pounds to store in the freezer.
 
Got a tip to save on groceries? Please share by posting a comment!

This is really no surprise, but I found this Canadian article today discussing why this is an issue and why we should be concerned. The highest concern in canned foods is more acidic foods, such as tomatos and ravioli, but also chicken noodle soup. Foods often consumed by young children who are more susceptible to the harmful effects of BPA.

The article links to this great report done by Environmental Health Perspectives.

While this artile is probably not exclusive of all canned food manufacturers, it does list a few who realize the dangers of BPA and have opted for alternatives. Companies such as Eden Foods, an organic company, have cans that are BPA-free. The cans only cost them a little more than 2 cents more per can over the BPA-tainted ones. Granted their canned food is expensive, at about $3.50 per can at my local Whole Foods.

I personally am avoiding canned foods as much as absolutely possible. I prefer frozen veggies anyway and fresh fruit, so other than the occassional refried beans to marry with our tacos, I have found I do not even miss using canned food. While fresh fruit takes a little more work to prepare, the taste is certainly worth it. And frozen veggies are just as easy as canned (and the organic versions are very affordable).

But should you still want canned versions that are BPA-free, check out this article for the few options available.

Forbes Magazine reports:

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Bassettbaby and eStyle Inc. each voluntarily recalled certain products because of potential hazards.

The government watchdog said Bassettbaby recalled about 550 of its Wendy Bellissimo Hidden Hills collection of cribs. The spindles could loosen, “creating a gap that poses an entrapment and strangulation hazard,” the CPSC said in its statement. There have been no reports of injuries.

The cribs are made in China and were sold for about $400 at Babies “R” Us. Consumers can return them for full reimbursement or free replacement, the agency said.

EStyle, based in Los Angeles, has recalled its Mini Chef Complete Toy Kitchens because the pegs supporting the oven shelf and refrigerator can come out, causing a choking hazard.

The toys were made in Thailand and sold at Babystyle stores last year for about $200.

Neither company immediately returned calls seeking comment.

This was in the Atlanta Business Chronicle this morning.

Atlanta mattress maker Simmons has issued a recall for about 20,000 Simmons Kids Crib mattresses sold at Pottery Barn and other nursery furniture retailers due to an entrapment hazard to infants, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.

The American-made mattresses were sold under the names Pottery Barn Kids by Simmons Kids Lullaby, Simmons Kids Slumber Time Evening Star Luxury Firm, Simmons Kids Baby Mattress Series 400 and Simmons Kids Baby Mattress 234 Coil Count from July 2006 through May 2008 for between $100 and $150. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said some of the crib mattresses can measure smaller than the 27-1/4 inch minimum width requirement for cribs, creating a gap between the mattress and crib side rails, posing an entrapment hazard to infants.

Simmons Kids and the Consumer Product Safety Commission have received one report of a six-month-old baby becoming wedged between the mattress and crib’s frame. The baby was removed from the crib without injury.

Consumers should measure the width of their mattress by removing all outer coverings, putting the mattress on floor and measuring the width near the middle, from the outside edge of the tape binding to the opposite side of the mattress. If it measures less than 27-1/4 inches, consumers should stop using the mattress and contact Simmons Kids to receive a free replacement mattress, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said.