The Daily Grind of a Work @ Home Mom...

Gerber Baby Food Containers

I was at the grocery store today buying baby food for Sabrina.  I typically buy a combination of Earth's Best and Organic Gerber for a bit of a varied selection.  As I was dumping the containers into my cart, I thought - WAIT!  These Gerber's are packaged in plastic!!  I checked the bottom and sure enough, it was marked with a #7 recycling symbol.  With no clue as to what #7 referred to, I put it back and cleaned out the Earth's Best section which come in warm and fuzzy glass jars.

I came home and sat down to research only to find out that #7 refers to "other."  Other?  Other what?  Essentially #7 is used when the container is made from materials other than #1 through #6, or if it's a combination of more than 1 plastic.  For more info on recycling symbols, check this out.

In the case of the Gerber containers, I read on SafeMama.com that they are made with a combination of #1 and #2 plastics.  HOWEVER, when I called Gerber myself, I was told that the baby food containers are made with #6 as the outer layer and #4 on the inside.  The representative also told me the containers are BPA-free and safe to heat for up to 30 seconds.  Gerber doesn't recommend freezing the food in the containers simply because it changes the food's composition.  And they are discourage re-using the plastic containers. 

This research leaves me more confused than ever since while #4 is often used for storing foods like squeezable products and bread bags, it is my understanding that #6 (polystyrene) is best avoided for food storage.  This, combined with the fact that Gerber is circulating inconsistent information, leaves me no choice but to boycott Gerber baby food until I (or they) can get some solid information regarding their products.

If anyone knows anything more on this, please comment or email me.  This is a bummer since Gerber does make nice food combinations and they are slightly less expensive than other organic varieties.   

Going Organic? Read This First.

I am in learning mode.  I am in a place where I want to absorb new information, embrace what I choose and respectfully discard the rest.  In the interim, I want to disseminate what I deem important. 

Yesterday I was reading about organic foods and trying to make sense of fact from fiction.  I was a bit surprised to learn that eating organic is NOT always better.  Here are a few things I learned:

• Locally grown does not always mean organic.  While it's possible the fruits & veggies at your neighborhood farm stand were grown using no icky pesticides, to be certified organic, the farmers must go through a lengthy and expensive certification process.  I will say though, locally grown is easier on the palette and the pocketbook.
• Don't bother paying more for organic in these departments: bananas, kiwi, mangoes, papaya, pineapple, asparagus, avocado, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, onion, sweet peas, and seafood.  None of these foods carry pesticide residue and there is no certification for organic seafood.
• Organic is better for the environment.  Surprisingly untrue.  Organic farming uses a lot more land to produce than conventional farming which means we'd need to cut down a lot more forests to accommodate should we go totally organic.  On the flip-side, it doesn't pollute the ground with nasty chemicals and pesticides and organic farms use less energy and produce less waste than conventional.
• It is yummier.  Apparently not.  Studies show that the tastiest foods are those that are locally grown since they spend little to no time traveling and are not sprayed and/or waxed to lengthen shelf life.
• It is cleaner.  Two words: WASH EVERYTHING.
• It is healthier. Not if the chips are fried and the cookies are sugary!  Howver, it was reported by The Organic Center, which promotes organic food, that organic food is on average 25% more nutritious than conventional food. 
• You're lending support to small businesses by buying organic.  Here's what I learned: General Mills owns the Cascadian Farms brand, Kraft owns Back to Nature and Boca Burger, and Kellogg's owns Morningstar Farms.  Need I say more?

While there are still items that I will continue to buy in the organic section (milk for the kids, baby food), I'm thrilled that my local farm is within walking distance from my house.  At 10 - 40% more than conventional food, I will now be smarter about what I choose to shell out for, and stick with the status quo where it makes sense. 

BPA Free Bottle & Sippy Cheat Sheet

I recently came across this AWESOME blog called SafeMama.com.  The people over there have done extensive research on the BPA issue so I'm going to defer to them from here on.  Additionally, they have put together a BPA Free Bottle & Sippy Cheat Sheet which helps to answer questions so many of you have come back to me with. 

This site is cool not only because they have spent so many hours to provide us with important info regarding plastic, but they offer info about skin care products, how to be a "Green" Mama, safe toy lists, recalls and so many great tips.  They recently reviewed Alex Casey Baby's own Little Twig organic skin care line and gave it two thumbs up.  :)

There are so many great sites offering safety info for parents.  It is sad that they need to exist but as parents in this era of daily recalls, they really are necessary.

I'll continue to offer information here too as I receive it.

More on BPA Free

So after trying out a few BPA free bottles and sippie cups, I've settled on the Nuby for both.  I did start out with the Nurture Pure glass bottles but I had a few issues.  Firstly, they were so air-tight that the nipple was collapsing constantly.  Even though my mother assured me this was normal, it was so irritating I couldn't deal.  Also, I'm sure my 6 month old will take to holding her own bottle at some point and I couldn't imagine giving her glass to hold on to (and inevitably drop).  So after reading that most Nuby products were free of toxins, I took a trip to the neighborhood Walmart to check it out, I chose both the sippies and bottles.  The sippies are fine but I must say the bottles rock!  I'm totally thrilled with them.  And I feel much better about this whole issue since making the switch.

After my initial blog on this, I got tons of emails offering info that I was not aware of.  I was so excited to learn that Ikea makes a bunch of cups, plates, bowls and utensils for kids that are made of polypropylene (a #5 on the recycling scale - if your cups have a #2 or #5 on the bottom, they are safe!)  For the most part, I was thrilled to see that many of my readers were taking this BPA stuff pretty seriously.  On the other hand, I got too many responses in the form of "well, I've already been using plastic for my baby for three months so what can I do now."  This just seems like a lazy attitude to me, since the effects of the toxin are cumulative.  I also got those "is it possible this is hype?" types of questions.  Honestly, maybe.  But you know what?  There is a reason why cancer seems to be popping up everywhere and in everyone and I'm not going to take the chance.  It just feels like a small change to make to make for a potentially big contribution toward my kids futures.  Like feeding them organic foods or choosing vegetables over fries.  A small choice.

On Monday, Toys r Us joined the likes of Walmart in saying that by the end of 2008, they will carry only Bisphenol-a free feeding products on their shelves. 

So if this is hype or a trend, the biggest retailers in the world are sure buying into it.   

Killing Us Softly

A few years ago, we opened our email to find our inbox's overflowing with warnings against putting plastic in the microwave, remember?  It was last year's version of the ubiquitous cautions against using lipsticks containing high lead levels, freezing your water bottles and getting tumors caused by ingesting aspartame.  Not a big believer in information received by way of "forwards", I typically discount these emails with a quick click of DELETE.

Except it seems the plastic one is true.

The problem occurs when the plastic is heated, it releases a chemical (bisphenol A or BPA) into the contents of the container which is harmful when ingested in average levels.  The same chemical is released also when the plastic is washed in hot water with harsh detergent.  This month, the Canadian government classified the chemical as toxic.  The biggest issue for parents is the presence of this chemical in our children's baby bottles and sippy cups.

In studies conducted by Environment California, it was shown that the top 5 brands of bottles sold in the US, Gerber, Dr. Brown's, EvenFlo, Playtex and Avent, all leach these toxic chemicals.  The chemical has been linked to cancer, obesity, and diabetes to name just a few.  This month, retail giant Walmart announced that it was immediately ceasing sales in all its Canadian stores of food containers, water and baby bottles, sippy cups, and pacifiers that contain bisphenol A, and that it would phase out baby bottles made with it in U.S. stores by early 2009.  As a parent, this speaks volumes and raises other questions. 

Since what feels like an epidemic of cancer has grown in the last few years, I've often wondered why the last few generations have been diagnosed so much more frequently than before.  I have peers and friends already falling victim to chemo and radiation.  I just know it's something in the environment or something we're ingesting.  This seems like at least one solid explanation.  But apart from Canada and Walmart, what is the US doing to take these household toxins of the shelf?

From my research, I found that 9 US states currently have legislation pending that would affect the use of BPA in containers.  Nine out of fifty.  That's not too comforting.

Forget the government.  Forget the US National Toxicology Program who are claiming studies result in ambivalent findings on the subject.  There's got to be a reason why so many of my friends are motherless as a result of breast-cancer and fatherless because of tumors of unknown origin.  There has to be some explanation why my girlfriend called a few weeks ago to tell me she has breast-cancer.  A reason another tested positive for the BRCA1  gene making her genetically pre-disposed to cancer.

I'm going to switch my kids bottles and sippy cups as quickly as today, but this seems like the easy part.  What about pacifiers?  Plastic bowls and cutlery?  Other household plastics?  I must say that I'm pretty distressed over the fact that I've been unknowingly feeding my 2-year-old poison since the day she was born.  And I might lose sleep tonight over the bigger question - what in the world will we learn next?