1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogle Bam. Here, Let's face it, some 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: canned vegetables are so very different from their fresh forms, 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: think asparagus, that plenty of kids grow up swearing off 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: otherwise delicious foods forever. So it's no surprise that canned 6 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: foods have a bad rap. But the bad reputation goes 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: beyond just the food that comes inside those cans. It's 8 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: also because of things like the growth of farmers markets 9 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: in the last twenty years, and influencers like California's Alice 10 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,560 Speaker 1: Waters and Michael Pollen who have encouraged eating locally raised 11 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: fresh foods over processed foods, and bp A linings and 12 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: scary accounts of the dangers of dented cans told by 13 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: well meaning grandparents. So is that bad reputation deserved? First, 14 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: Let's back up and talk about canning foods as a whole. 15 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: Canning was born out of a search for convenience and efficiency. 16 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: A French candy maker and chef Nicholas A. Pear develop 17 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: to the process. At the end of the eighteenth century, 18 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: Napoleon was offering a huge prize to anyone who could 19 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,559 Speaker 1: help him feed his troops. A pair's original process isn't 20 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: very different from the canning methods used today. A pair 21 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: put food in bottles and jars, covered them with cork 22 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,319 Speaker 1: and wax, and processed the jars in boiling water. The 23 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: French government paid a pair to make his process public, 24 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: and that led to the first recipe book on canning. 25 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 1: The Pair's process spread quickly. Not twenty years later, the 26 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: British Navy fed soldiers the first meat, soups and vegetables 27 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: that were canned in tin instead of jars. During World 28 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:36,959 Speaker 1: War Two, governments in a number of countries, including the 29 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: U S and the UK, promoted home canning. The U 30 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: S printed and distributed circulars and opened thousands of canning 31 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: centers to help home cooks preserve food grown in home gardens. 32 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: Canning became patriotic, supplementing bland and sometimes inadequate rations. In 33 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, commercially canned and other packaged foods were 34 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: introduced as nutritious, time saving, modern convenient. A popular book, 35 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: the can Opener cookbook Buy Food, editor Poppy Cannon promised 36 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: readers they could open some cans and create a gourmet 37 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: meal without really knowing how to cook. The recipes included 38 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: roast canned chicken flombay with black cherries made with a 39 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: whole canned chicken. Another meal was made of canned hamburger 40 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: patties covered with fried onions and red wine, baked in 41 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: a castrole dish for twenty minutes. Canned food was promoted 42 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: and seen as better than fresh, especially as industrial agriculture 43 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: began to incorporate more modern fertilizers and technologies. The author 44 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: of the can Opener cookbook wrote the flavor of fresh 45 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: tomatoes was bad and that for real tomato flavor, you 46 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:43,119 Speaker 1: should open a can. Fifty is years later, canned tomatoes 47 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: are still an off season go to for tomato lovers 48 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: and cooks, and I certainly can't deny the convenience of 49 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: a can of beans already cooked and ready to go 50 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: into a salad, soup, dip, or whatever other dish, no 51 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: long soaking or par boiling required. From a nutrition standpoint, 52 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: the canning process today is designed preserve as many nutrients 53 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: as possible. Fruits and vegetables for canning are picked at 54 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: the peak of their ripeness, as opposed to some produce 55 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: picked for fresh sale, which may be underripe to prevent 56 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: spoilage during transport from farmed store. Crops destined for canning 57 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: are grown close to packing facilities and can be processed 58 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: within four hours of harvest. The heat used during canning 59 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: does decrease some of the water soluble vitamins in the 60 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: finished food, like vitamins B and C, and often salt 61 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: and sugar are added during the process. Experts suggest rinsing 62 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: canned food to reduce some of the added sugar and salt, 63 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: or buying low salt and low sugar products. And of 64 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: course that heat also changes the texture of vegetables, regrettably 65 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: so in the case of those canned asparagus. But that 66 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: heat is a plus when it comes to food safety. 67 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: The heat introduces pressure that helps seal the cans, but 68 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: it can also kill or deactivate deadly germs. Remember when 69 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: we mentioned our grandparents aversions to dented or swollen cans. 70 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: Those fears are based in reality. Let's talk about my face. 71 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: Its scary condition botuli um. It's caused by a bacterial 72 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: toxin so deadly that just a million of a graham 73 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: is enough to kill the United States and other countries 74 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: even explored botulism as a biological weapon during World War Two. 75 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: The bacteria that crete this toxin, clostradian batu linum, are everywhere, 76 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: but people associate bauchuli ism with canned foods because the 77 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 1: bacteria only reproduce in low oxygen environments like a poorly 78 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: processed can. Today, commercial canned foods go through what's called 79 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: a bochu linum cook. This is a high heat cook 80 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: that dramatically lowers the chance that any Clustradiu bauchua linum 81 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: spores or other organisms that can cause food born illness survive. 82 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,799 Speaker 1: For the record, you should discard any can that's puffed 83 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: out or swollen that's caused by germs reproducing inside of it, 84 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 1: and it is bad news. Cans that are dented are 85 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,799 Speaker 1: usually fine, as long as the dent is not along 86 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: the cans scenes. The most recent concern about canned foods, though, 87 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: isn't the food at all. It's the cans themselves and 88 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,280 Speaker 1: what they're lined with, including b p A. Over the 89 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: past two decades, public attention has focused on bp A, 90 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,920 Speaker 1: the compound used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. 91 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: In two thousand and eight, the US government's National Toxicology 92 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: Program concluded that there was concern about its effects on 93 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:20,359 Speaker 1: the brains, behavior, and prostate glands of fetuses, infants, and children. 94 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: Other studies have linked BPA to cardiovascular disease, obesity, asthma, 95 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:30,360 Speaker 1: and diabetes. B p A exposure is widespread. The Centers 96 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 1: for Disease Control found b p A and of the 97 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,719 Speaker 1: urine samples of more than twenty five thousand people aged 98 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: six and older. B p A can leach from containers, 99 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: including cans, into foods and drinks, and so plastics and 100 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: canning manufacturers have worked to develop replacement materials. The Canned 101 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: Manufacturers Institute says more than of food cans today are 102 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 1: lined with new b p A free materials such as polyesters, acrylics, 103 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 1: and PVC. Though note that that figure just refers to 104 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: food cans. It doesn't include canned drinks or bottle caps. 105 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: And although replacing a known concern is great, the safety 106 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: of some of those substitutes is still being researched. We 107 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,160 Speaker 1: spoke of Sarah Geller, a senior research and database analyst 108 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: at the Environmental Working Group. She said, we don't have 109 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: a lot of data about how these materials are used 110 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: because the formulas are protected by trade secrets, and even 111 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: though cans with newer linings can help you avoid endocrine disruptors, 112 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: they may not be good for the environment. Some materials 113 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: don't degrade. If you're concerned about contamination from canned foods, 114 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: Geller recommends using fresh, frozen, or dried food instead of canned, 115 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: But if you simply can't get away from the convenience 116 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:45,039 Speaker 1: of canned foods, absolutely don't eat the food in the can. Finally, 117 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:48,039 Speaker 1: be aware that some compounds, including b p A, have 118 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: become such pervasive contaminants in the environment that it's getting 119 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: harder to avoid. No matter what your food is packaged in, 120 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: Geller said, detectable amounts of b p A may make 121 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: it into otherwise b p A free cans from other sources, 122 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: including the food itself. To end on a slightly lighter note, 123 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: even though food was first canned in metal cans around 124 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: eighteen thirteen, it took about forty years for someone to 125 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: invent a can opener, and can openers for home use 126 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: didn't become popular until the eighteen sixties. Before then, you'd 127 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: break out the hammer and chisel. Today's episode was written 128 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: by Sean Chavis and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff 129 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. 130 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other topics that 131 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: we put in the can just for you, visit our 132 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: home planet, how stuff Works dot com and from our 133 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: podcast From my heart radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 134 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.