Question from CP
Debra,
In an effort not to use canned products, I have tried to switch to pacific soups which are in cartons. Here is the description of their cartons. Are these material safe? Similarly, I love tuna fish in the pouches. Are the material in tuna pouches safe? Thanks!
Pacific Soups: “The product is not exposed to the aluminum lining; rather two layers of polyethylene shield it. In total there are 6 layers that make up the aseptic package. From the outside in they are – polyethylene, paper, polyethylene, aluminum foil, polyethylene and polyethylene.”
Starkist tuna pouches: outer layer to inner layer polyester, aluminum foil, polyamide (nylon), polypropylene
Debra’s Answer
Polyethylene is considered a food-safe plastic, which is not toxic and does not leach. I’m not concerned about plastic leaching into the food from either of these containers. If would be safer to eat soup packaged in this container than in a can with a lining that leaches bisphenol-A
However, I am not sure about the disposal of these packages. The aseptic packaging industry says they are recyclable, but I don’t know if they are really being recycled in practice.
The best choice is to always simply not use something if it isn’t necessary, and in this case, there is a lot of food packaging that could be eliminated by preparing packaged food at home. Chicken soup is extremely easy to make and much tastier, as I mentioned in another post.
