What about the lining on SIGG (and other brands) Aluminum bottles. Can I trust them? Here's what they say on their website: "SIGG has perfected the formula of its proprietary inner liner over decades of scientific research and Swiss engineering. The ingredients (like the formula for Coca-Cola) remain secret and unavailable to 3rd parties so as to ensure SIGG retains its competitive advantage. The key of course is that the SIGG liner is FDA approved and independently tested to be taste and scent inert – and resistant to any leaching (0.0%) so 100% safe."

you're kidding. I have to throw away all my nalgene bottles? What do I use for camping trips? Can polypro bottles hold up to hot liquids? You're making my live unlivable.

I have one made from corn....and it's great!

oh, man. i thought my Nalgene was the healthy choice. now what? i got a couple of SIGG bottles as a gift too. so i'd love to know if they're ok. if not, then who makes the good bottles you're talking about? help!

According to The Green Guide (www.thegreenguide.org) "The Swiss Sigg bottle is made from extruded aluminum and coated on the inside with a taste-inert, food-compatible stove enamel."

Also according to a posting there from someone who read a German report on aluminium bottles: "Stiftung Oekotest (www.oekotest.de) is a German testing agency, like Consumer Reports, but everything is tested for environmental friendliness and health concerns. The SIGG aluminium bottle they tested received very good ratings: it leaks minimal traces of aluminium at room temperature, more at higher temperatures (thats why you should protect it from heat and not use it with hot drinks as stated in the manual that comes with the bottle), there was no bisphenol A found, no diethylhexyphthalate, no vinyl. With this it did quite good in the test. They consider traces of aluminium less dangerous than the stuff plastics usually leak."

Otherwise there's always the stainless steel Klean Kanteen(www.kleankanteen.com).

Also, Nagelene also makes the same bottles out of Polyethelene (#2 plasitc which is safe) - they just don't look as "nice" because they're the white milky translucent color instead of clear. (But I'd suggest putting your hot stuff in a stainless steel bottle...)

OK...so I got the stainles steel bottles and sippy cups, and have decided to give up canned foods. I use fresh beans and veggies.. My problem is with revising all of my cooking that uses canned food staples such as tomato paste, tomato sauce, diced tomatos, etc. What are the alternatives for these??? Help! Someone who knows please post an answer. I am starting to agree with gawain in that all these things to worry about are making my life unlivable! Why can't the stuff on our shelves be safe for goodness sakes?!?! This is getting ridiculous. I'm worn out.

i would like info, on what is safe for school sandwiches etc? i use a paper bag to wrap my daughters food in! and what about a lunch box??any info i would appreciate!

What about the plastic bladder used in my camel back pack which I use up to a hundred times each year? Are any of the plastic bladders safe? I can't fine a number on mine.

Do acrylic products, such as drinkware,contain BPA?

Ditto! And now we can't eat seafood or arsenic-tainted chickens, and I can't afford organic, and my husband balks at anything healthy, and then there's the price of gas!

With regard to cans the only solution is to buy a few different brands and open them to see if they are lined or not. Then stick with the unlined brand. You can also be proactive and forward some of this information on to companies that make canned products.

I've heard that Nalgene bottles are okay as long as you replace them every couple of years and don't put hot liquids in them. They are a hard plastic and you can tell by the fact they don't have a stong plastic smell to them that they are better than a lot of other plastics.

I have been using glass. I used a bail-top imported beer bottle until I found a bigger and lighter one at IKEA for $2. Works with one hand, and glass is best!

I, too, am confused about diced tomatoes and tomato sauce in the can! I am wondering if there are any companies that omit the use of bisphenol-A. Is it even possible? I do use the Klean Kanteens. I love them. They keep drinks cold and are great for kids, too! My 3 year old son has 3 of them.

Hotmama: A good alternative to canned tomatoes is to use dried or sun-dried tomatoes. They give the strong tomato flavor you're looking for. It's best to get ones without salt added, if you can find them. Soak them in water until soft (usually 15-45 minutes), then blend them up with some of the soak water, a little bit of salt (if you got unsalted tomatoes), maybe a little dried onion and/or garlic powder, etc. (Look on your canned tomato products to see what flavorings they put in, and experiment until you get something that tastes good to you.) You can also just blend them up with water and add the various flavorings to your recipes when you're cooking.

For diced tomatoes, it's best to just buy fresh ones and dice them yourself. Roma or plum tomatoes are good for dicing because they have very little liquid. You could also save the excess liquid from your diced tomatoes and use it in place of water to blend with the sun-dried tomatoes.

You can either do this every time you have a recipe, or make a bunch every week or so and keep it in a glass container in the fridge.

You can also make a cooked tomato sauce out of fresh tomatoes, which may take a little more work, but is probably how the canned ones are made. I haven't tried it, but a website I found suggested this recipe:

"I remember my mother used to make a thick tomato sauce from scratch. This was back in India where canned products were not something that anyone ever used. Everything was made fresh and the long way. Here it goes:

Plum Tomatoes (about 30 or so depending on the size, you can adjust the amount to the quantity you have)
seasonings of your choice

She used to cut the tomatoes into large chunks and place it in a large saucepan. She would cover and cook them on medium heat until they were tender and the skin seperated out of the tomatoes (about 30 minutes or so).

Next let the tomato mixture cool down a tiny bit. Now sieve the tomatoes through a food mill (she used a fine mesh for this, she had all different sizes of meshes). Thrown away the seeds and the skin and pour the reserved pulp in a clean saucepan. Add spices of your choices and continue to cook it until the desired thickness.

Note: There were no preservatives used and whatever she made was used within the week if not sooner."

I assume that if you wanted a thick tomato paste instead of a tomato sauce, you could blend in the tomato skins instead of straining them out.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes if you get a chance. :)

Yet another argument for the (mostly) raw diet. My question: if I ditch canned foods what about those boxes like juice boxes? I just bought a pile of organic cooked beans in these things.

Sigg bottles are great but pricey. I scored some metal bottles at my local thrift store. Now it remains to be seen if they have plastic liners. :-(

The reason aluminum cans are lined is because the water used in processing the foods or beverages is usually fluoridated. The EPA noted in a nomination for Aluminum-fluoride neurotoxicity studies,Lou Gehrig's Disease, Alzheimers Disease, that the fluorides caused the aluminum to leach and combined with it, forming aluminum-fluoride. They recommended not buying any dented cans or out of date ones. (ref. "Review: Aluminum Toxicity - Feb. 2000, Dept of Health & Human Services, Research Triangle Park, NC)
I rely on glass, steel, iron frying pan, and corning ware.

I feel the same way worn out, it seems it never ends. But you can always can your own tomatoe sauce and other things you normally get in a can, that way you have total control over what you are eating. It might save you some money as well.

So is the website above wear you get the good water bottles and sippy cups? (Kleankanteen)

According to Trader Joe's, none of their can linings contain BPA. Eden Foods canned beans are BPA free, but their tomatoes are not.

For Hotmama:

On canned goods, our tactic is to try to make it fresh (it's not as hard as it seems, once you integrate it into your cooking routine), or when the items aren't available fresh, eat what is in season! That having been said, we do have some canned items around for camping/quick meals on short notice. Just minimizing your exposure until you are able to completely eliminate the source from your life is progress in the right direction.

It took our family 6 years (took the typical repeated health-related wake-up calls to completely impress upon us how much easier it is to change your life than to die a long, slow, modern death) revolutionize our consumption pattern. We started with simply trading bleach and conventional dish soap for less toxic alternatives (http://lesstoxicguide.ca/ is a great site for suggestions, both storebought and homemade), and we now eat almost exclusively organic foods, prepared at home without microwave or even toaster (heard the elements throw out some really nasty stuff when heating...tungsten might have been one), completely free of refined sugars (or other white poisions, like refined flour and rice), never using disposable plates, etc., trying to use primarily cloth napkins while all other paper products are recycled...well, just typing up the list makes it seem daunting, but really, take it one thing at a time, and 6 years from now, you'll have a long list of changes as well.

Most recently, we have become big fans of the Weston A Price Foundation and the Price-Pottenger Foundation as resources for information on traditional diets for optimal health. And having moved toward the _Nourishing_Traditions_ lifestyle, our eating habits automatically include less prepared foods as we integrate as much raw/lightly cooked food as possible. The gradual return of good health around this household far outweighs any attraction the denatured convenience foods once held. (Although, because "convenience" foods are really nice on the run with kids, we are totally into goraw.com where you can order cereal, granola bars, and snack foods prepared as carefully as if Sally Fallon herself had made them for her own children!)

BTW, while you're on a roll tossing out the plastic in favour of stainless, you can even get stainless steel drinking straws (after5catalog.com is just one of the websites carrying them), which the kids love!

happy hunting, and good health to you and your family!

I read that the popular plastic lunch boxes contain lead in them so I have been using paper bags for my kids.
We try but CAN'T do every little thing we read about that is bad for us. I would go nuts!!

Hi
You advise #5 polypropylene plastic in the answer to a question about stainless steel water bottles but in the 'Tips for avoiding BPA exposure' only 1,2 and 4 and the name polypropylene without the number are mentioned. For thouroughness, consistency and convenience I think adding the #5 would be helpful.

noelene: Regarding your question about wrapping sandwiches, a few years ago I researched information and made a chart of the seven plastic types (by SPI code) and the various kinds of products that touch our food which are made from those plastic types. (I'd share the whole chart but don't know how.) In general, avoid SPI codes 3,6, and 7. They contain toxic substances which leach into food and drink. Interestingly, Saran Wrap and Reynolds Wrap are made from polyvinyl chloride (SPI 3), so don't use those. Handi-Wrap and Glad Wrap are made from low-density polyethylene (SPI 4), which is considered safe.

In regard to BPA leaching from can linings into food, I gave up Muir Glen canned tomatos--the only thing I bought in a can--because of it. After the EWG study came out, I emailed Muir Glen and asked about their can linings. Yes, they told me, there is BPA in our can linings, but it's completely safe. I responded with the link to the EWG study, and my promise to never buy anything they put in a can again.

If you notice, Muir Glen also sells various tomato sauces in glass bottles. If enough of their customers contact them about BPA, they just may start selling bottled tomatoes.

Regarding how to tell what kind of plastic a bladder would be (or any other with no identifying number), if it's flexible, there's a good chance that it's been softened by plasticizers that leach toxic chemicals such as bisphenol-A.

i am also curious about Mary's question regarding the plastic bladder in the camelbacks. Anyone know??

I am looking for 5 gallon glass or stainless steel drinking water storage containers.

regarding sandwich wrapping ... I use good old fashioned wax paper. Reynold's "cut-rite" brand is available in a roll and in sandwich bag style. A tight fold and a tiny bit of scotch tape or an elastic band, and the sandwich stays as fresh and tasty as though it had been hermetically sealed in "plastic wrap", but without that disgusting plastic taste than plastic wrap imparts to everything.

I'm interested in other's thoughts about was paper. It seems to compost well, also, and is great fire-starter.

Some organic diced tomatoes and tomato sauces are now available in safe (and recyclable) aseptic packages (I believe it's Muir Glen). Eden Foods (organic beans and veggies) uses cans without bisphenol-A (I think I read this in the Green Guide). Frozen veggies are also great in a pinch. You can put your homemade tomato sauces into glass jelly jars and freeze them too. Hope this helps.

I'm curious if we have any info on the Press and Seal type of plastic wrap? Does anyone know if it contains toxins? Also,I feel everyone's frustration with all the info and changing our entire patterns of cooking, shopping, and eating. I have chosen to begin a routine nutritional program that provides cellular cleansing so when I can't prevent all toxins from entering my body from the start I can eliminate them on a regular basis. This has allowed freedom from the constant fear that my family is being poisoned.

For a safe lunch box alternative, we love the "Laptop lunches" system (just google it). Yes, they're plastic, (with stainless utencils) but a safer type.
The kids love them, too.

Check out reusablebags.com. They carry various stainless steel bottles, a reusable sandwich wrap (wrap-n-mat), and a multitude of lunch bag options.

THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO: NOW I NEED TO KNOW IF THE SAMPLE CREAMS FROM ARBONNE, INT'L THAT ARE IN SHEETS OF PLASTIC WITH METALLIC LININGS ARE SAFE. HELP! GUESS I SHOULD ASK THEM ALSO. THEY HAVE AN INTERNATIONAL CO. BUT ARE MANUFACTURED IN THE USA. ARBONNE.COM.

I too wonder if "wax paper" is really as benign as it sounds. I assume there is no longer really "wax" but a petroleum based product used for the coating.

Anyone with info?

Hi I am posting in response to the question about the water bladders; I work in an outdoor store that carries both the Camelbak water bladders and the Nalgene bladders in North Face backpacks. I don't know as much about the Camelbak bladders, but when we started carrying the North Face's backpacks with bladders I saw my chance to pick my rep's brain: The bladders they use are in fact made by nalgene with their pharmeceutical grade lexan plastic that leaves no taste or smell. If you go directly to their website,

http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/Index.html

you can see all the products they carry and they have a link that tells you about the different types of plastics they carry. They also have a link that has information concerning BPA and Nalgene.

http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/technical/bpaInfo.html

I remember a study done about a year ago that concluded that Lexan was safe to drink out of if the bottles are in good condition. All the bottles in the study that were new and in good condition showed no leaching, where-as bottles that were well used and not new showed some leaching, with the ones that were the oldest and most worn had the highest levels of leaching. So as long as you replace your bottles every few years as they wear out, they are safe to use. Also, for those parents out there, Nalgene makes some wonderful sippy cups/bottles and squirt bottles for kids.

I hope this helps answer some questions:D

I think that glass bottles are best and cheapest for cold stuff. Try wrapping sannis in foil which can be reused. Ceramics are nice too. Also try to buy
American.