August 1, 2026 • 8 mins
Canning foods preserves them, but the texture and nutritive value can suffer -- and what about the potential dangers of BPA and botulism? Learn what's true and what's myth when it comes to canned food in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/canned-food-bad.htm
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hey brain Stuff Lauren vocal bomb here with a classic
episode from the Vault. In this fun we get into
the science of canned foods. Recently, they've been much aligned,
but they can still be a convenient source of nutrition,
especially when you don't have access to fresh foods. So
here are the pros and cons of canning, Hey.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Brain stuff, Lauren vocal bomb here.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Let's face it, some canned vegetables are so very different
from their fresh forms, think asparagus, that plenty of kids
grow up swearing off otherwise delicious foods forever. So it's
no surprise that canned foods have a bad rap. But
the bad reputation goes beyond just the food that comes
inside those cans. It's also because of things like the
(00:52):
growth of farmer's markets in the last twenty years and
influencers like California's Alice Waters and Michael Pollan who have
encouraged eating locally raised fresh foods over processed foods and
BPA linings and scary accounts of the dangers of dented
cans told by well meaning grandparents. So is that bad
reputation deserved first? Let's back up and talk about canning
(01:14):
foods as a whole. Canning was born out of a
search for convenience and efficiency. A French candy maker and chef,
Nicholas A. Pear developed the process. At the end of
the eighteenth century. Napoleon was offering a huge prize to
anyone who could help him feed his troops. A pair's
original process isn't very different from the canning methods used today.
A pair put food in bottles and jars, covered them
(01:37):
with cork and wax, and processed the jars in boiling water.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
The French government paid a Pair to make.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
His process public, and that led to the first recipe
book on canning. A pair's process spread quickly. Not twenty
years later, the British Navy fed soldiers the first meat, soups,
and vegetables that were canned in tin instead of jars.
During World War II, governments in a number of countries,
including the USA the UK, promoted home canning.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
The US printed and distributed.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Circulars and opened thousands of canning centers to help home
cooks preserve food grown in home gardens. Canning became patriotic,
supplementing bland and sometimes inadequate rations. In the nineteen fifties,
commercially canned and other packaged foods were introduced as nutritious,
time saving modern conveniences. A popular book, The can Opener
(02:25):
Cookbook by food editor Poppy Cannon, promised readers they could
open some cans and create a gourmet meal without really
knowing how to cook. The recipes included roast canned chicken
flombaiy with black cherries made with a whole canned chicken.
Another meal was made of canned hamburger patties covered with
fried onions and red wine, baked in a casserole dish
for twenty minutes. Canned food was promoted and seen as
(02:48):
better than fresh, especially as industrial agriculture began to incorporate
more modern fertilizers and technologies. The author of The can
Opener Cookbook wrote that the flavor of fresh tomatoes was
bad and that for real tomato flavor, you should open
a can. Fifty ish years later, canned tomatoes are still
an off season go two for tomato lovers and cooks,
(03:09):
and I certainly can't deny the convenience of a can
of beans already cooked and ready to go into a salad, soup, dip,
or whatever other dish. No long soaking or parboiling required.
From a nutrition standpoint, the canning process today is designed
to preserve as many nutrients as possible. Fruits and vegetables
for canning are picked at the peak of their ripeness,
as opposed to some produce picked.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
For fresh sale, which may be underripe.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
To prevent spoilage during transport from farmed store, crops destined
for canning are grown close to packing facilities and can
be processed within four hours of harvest. The heat used
during canning does decrease some of the water soluble vitamins
in the finished food, like vitamins B and sea, and
often salt and sugar are added during the process. Experts
(03:52):
suggest rinsing canned food to reduce some of the added
sugar and salt, or buying low salt and low sugar products.
And of course that heat also changes the texture of vegetables,
regrettably so in the case of those canned asparagus.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
But that heat is a plus when it comes to
food safety.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
The heat introduces pressure that helps seal the cans, but
it can also kill or deactivate deadly germs. Remember when
we mentioned our grandparents aversions to dented or swollen cans,
those fears are based in reality. Let's talk about my
favorite scary condition, botulism. It's caused by a bacterial toxin
so deadly that just a millionth of a gram is
(04:29):
enough to kill the United States and other countries even
explored botulism as a biological weapon during World War II.
The bacteria that create this toxin, Cloustridium botulinum, are everywhere,
but people associate botulism with canned foods because the bacteria
only reproduce in low oxygen environments like a poorly processed can. Today,
(04:50):
commercial canned foods go through what's called a botulinum cook.
This is a high heat cook that dramatically lowers the
chance that any Klaustridium botulinum spores or other organisms that
can cause food born illness survive. For the record, you
should discard any can that's puffed out or swollen that's
caused by germs reproducing inside of it, and it is
bad news. Cans that are dented are usually fine as
(05:12):
long as the dent is not along the cans scenes.
The most recent concern about canned foods, though, isn't the
food at all, it's the cans themselves and what they're
lined with, including BPA. Over the past two decades, public
attention has focused on BPA, the compound used to make
polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. In two thousand and eight,
(05:34):
the US government's National Toxicology Program concluded that there was
concern about its effects on the brains, behavior, and prostate
glands of fetuses, infants, and children. Other studies have linked
BPA to cardiovascular disease, obesity, asthma, and diabetes. BPA exposure
is widespread. The Centers for Disease Control found BPA in
(05:54):
ninety three percent of the urine samples of more than
twenty five thousand people aged.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Six and older.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
BPA can leach from containers, including cans, into foods and drinks,
and so plastics and canning manufacturers have worked to develop
replacement materials. The Can Manufacturers Institute says more than ninety
percent of food cans today are lined with new BPA
free materials such as polyesters, acrylics, and PVC. Though note
(06:20):
that that ninety percent figure just refers to food cans,
It doesn't include canned drinks or bottle caps, and although
replacing a known concern is great, the safety of some
of those substitutes is still being researched.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
We spoke with Sarah Geller, a.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Senior research and database analyst at the Environmental Working Group.
She said, we don't have a lot of data about
how these materials are used because the formulas are protected
by trade secrets. And even though cans with newer linings
can help you avoid endocrine disruptors, they may not be
good for the environment.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Some materials don't degrade.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
If you're concerned about contamination from canned foods, Galla recommends
using fresh, frozen, or dried food instead of cane, but
if you simply can't get away from the convenience of
canned foods, absolutely don't heat the food in the can. Finally,
be aware that some compounds, including BPA, have become such
pervasive contaminants in the environment that it's getting harder to
(07:14):
avoid no matter what your food is packaged in. Geller said,
detectable amounts of BPA may make it into otherwise BPA
free cans from other sources, including the food itself. To
end on a slightly lighter note, even though food was
first canned in metal cans around eighteen thirteen. It took
about forty years for someone to invent a can opener,
(07:35):
and can openers for home use didn't become popular until
the eighteen sixties. Before then you'd break out the hammer
and chisel. Today's episode is based on the article does
canned food really deserve a bad Wrap? On HowStuffWorks dot Com,
written by Sean Chavis. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio
(07:58):
in partnership with how stuff work dot Com and is
produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hey brain Stuff Lauren vocal bomb here with a classic
episode from the Vault. In this fun we get into
the science of canned foods. Recently, they've been much aligned,
but they can still be a convenient source of nutrition,
especially when you don't have access to fresh foods. So
here are the pros and cons of canning, Hey.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Brain stuff, Lauren vocal bomb here.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Let's face it, some canned vegetables are so very different
from their fresh forms, think asparagus, that plenty of kids
grow up swearing off otherwise delicious foods forever. So it's
no surprise that canned foods have a bad rap. But
the bad reputation goes beyond just the food that comes
inside those cans. It's also because of things like the
(00:52):
growth of farmer's markets in the last twenty years and
influencers like California's Alice Waters and Michael Pollan who have
encouraged eating locally raised fresh foods over processed foods and
BPA linings and scary accounts of the dangers of dented
cans told by well meaning grandparents. So is that bad
reputation deserved first? Let's back up and talk about canning
(01:14):
foods as a whole. Canning was born out of a
search for convenience and efficiency. A French candy maker and chef,
Nicholas A. Pear developed the process. At the end of
the eighteenth century. Napoleon was offering a huge prize to
anyone who could help him feed his troops. A pair's
original process isn't very different from the canning methods used today.
A pair put food in bottles and jars, covered them
(01:37):
with cork and wax, and processed the jars in boiling water.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
The French government paid a Pair to make.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
His process public, and that led to the first recipe
book on canning. A pair's process spread quickly. Not twenty
years later, the British Navy fed soldiers the first meat, soups,
and vegetables that were canned in tin instead of jars.
During World War II, governments in a number of countries,
including the USA the UK, promoted home canning.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
The US printed and distributed.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Circulars and opened thousands of canning centers to help home
cooks preserve food grown in home gardens. Canning became patriotic,
supplementing bland and sometimes inadequate rations. In the nineteen fifties,
commercially canned and other packaged foods were introduced as nutritious,
time saving modern conveniences. A popular book, The can Opener
(02:25):
Cookbook by food editor Poppy Cannon, promised readers they could
open some cans and create a gourmet meal without really
knowing how to cook. The recipes included roast canned chicken
flombaiy with black cherries made with a whole canned chicken.
Another meal was made of canned hamburger patties covered with
fried onions and red wine, baked in a casserole dish
for twenty minutes. Canned food was promoted and seen as
(02:48):
better than fresh, especially as industrial agriculture began to incorporate
more modern fertilizers and technologies. The author of The can
Opener Cookbook wrote that the flavor of fresh tomatoes was
bad and that for real tomato flavor, you should open
a can. Fifty ish years later, canned tomatoes are still
an off season go two for tomato lovers and cooks,
(03:09):
and I certainly can't deny the convenience of a can
of beans already cooked and ready to go into a salad, soup, dip,
or whatever other dish. No long soaking or parboiling required.
From a nutrition standpoint, the canning process today is designed
to preserve as many nutrients as possible. Fruits and vegetables
for canning are picked at the peak of their ripeness,
as opposed to some produce picked.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
For fresh sale, which may be underripe.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
To prevent spoilage during transport from farmed store, crops destined
for canning are grown close to packing facilities and can
be processed within four hours of harvest. The heat used
during canning does decrease some of the water soluble vitamins
in the finished food, like vitamins B and sea, and
often salt and sugar are added during the process. Experts
(03:52):
suggest rinsing canned food to reduce some of the added
sugar and salt, or buying low salt and low sugar products.
And of course that heat also changes the texture of vegetables,
regrettably so in the case of those canned asparagus.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
But that heat is a plus when it comes to
food safety.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
The heat introduces pressure that helps seal the cans, but
it can also kill or deactivate deadly germs. Remember when
we mentioned our grandparents aversions to dented or swollen cans,
those fears are based in reality. Let's talk about my
favorite scary condition, botulism. It's caused by a bacterial toxin
so deadly that just a millionth of a gram is
(04:29):
enough to kill the United States and other countries even
explored botulism as a biological weapon during World War II.
The bacteria that create this toxin, Cloustridium botulinum, are everywhere,
but people associate botulism with canned foods because the bacteria
only reproduce in low oxygen environments like a poorly processed can. Today,
(04:50):
commercial canned foods go through what's called a botulinum cook.
This is a high heat cook that dramatically lowers the
chance that any Klaustridium botulinum spores or other organisms that
can cause food born illness survive. For the record, you
should discard any can that's puffed out or swollen that's
caused by germs reproducing inside of it, and it is
bad news. Cans that are dented are usually fine as
(05:12):
long as the dent is not along the cans scenes.
The most recent concern about canned foods, though, isn't the
food at all, it's the cans themselves and what they're
lined with, including BPA. Over the past two decades, public
attention has focused on BPA, the compound used to make
polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. In two thousand and eight,
(05:34):
the US government's National Toxicology Program concluded that there was
concern about its effects on the brains, behavior, and prostate
glands of fetuses, infants, and children. Other studies have linked
BPA to cardiovascular disease, obesity, asthma, and diabetes. BPA exposure
is widespread. The Centers for Disease Control found BPA in
(05:54):
ninety three percent of the urine samples of more than
twenty five thousand people aged.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Six and older.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
BPA can leach from containers, including cans, into foods and drinks,
and so plastics and canning manufacturers have worked to develop
replacement materials. The Can Manufacturers Institute says more than ninety
percent of food cans today are lined with new BPA
free materials such as polyesters, acrylics, and PVC. Though note
(06:20):
that that ninety percent figure just refers to food cans,
It doesn't include canned drinks or bottle caps, and although
replacing a known concern is great, the safety of some
of those substitutes is still being researched.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
We spoke with Sarah Geller, a.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Senior research and database analyst at the Environmental Working Group.
She said, we don't have a lot of data about
how these materials are used because the formulas are protected
by trade secrets. And even though cans with newer linings
can help you avoid endocrine disruptors, they may not be
good for the environment.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Some materials don't degrade.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
If you're concerned about contamination from canned foods, Galla recommends
using fresh, frozen, or dried food instead of cane, but
if you simply can't get away from the convenience of
canned foods, absolutely don't heat the food in the can. Finally,
be aware that some compounds, including BPA, have become such
pervasive contaminants in the environment that it's getting harder to
(07:14):
avoid no matter what your food is packaged in. Geller said,
detectable amounts of BPA may make it into otherwise BPA
free cans from other sources, including the food itself. To
end on a slightly lighter note, even though food was
first canned in metal cans around eighteen thirteen. It took
about forty years for someone to invent a can opener,
(07:35):
and can openers for home use didn't become popular until
the eighteen sixties. Before then you'd break out the hammer
and chisel. Today's episode is based on the article does
canned food really deserve a bad Wrap? On HowStuffWorks dot Com,
written by Sean Chavis. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio
(07:58):
in partnership with how stuff work dot Com and is
produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
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