Canning mamas: what about BPA in can lids?

[Quirky]

I'm sorry if this has been discussed -- I ran a search but didn't pick anything up (maybe it's too short a search term?)

So for various reasons this year my plans to can a whole bunch of tomatoes fell through (thanks, late blight!). My main reason for canning would be to avoid BPA in canned tomatoes -- which we totally don't eat at all any more because of the BPA issue, but I really miss them.

Yet Ball jar lids have BPA in them, as I've just found out (and dang, I have a bunch sitting in my basement just waiting for me)....

Are there any BPA-free options out there for canning?

[woodchick]

I'm not an expert, but can BPA be passed into the food if the lid doesn't touch the contents of the jar? Unless you're storing your jars upside down the lid is usually half an inch or so above the food.

And if the lids in your basement have been used before they'll need to be replaced anyway before you can again. The rings are reusable, but the lids are one use only.

I'd love to know if there are BPA free options. Maybe the jars with the glass lids and the metal clamps that hold them down?

[Owen'nZoe]

Like woodchick, I'm not too worried about it, because the food doesn't really come in contact with the sealing ring. Maybe they touch a bit during processing when the contents are boiling, but there is so little of the sealing ring exposed, and once processing is complete, the food does not touch the ring at all. It seems to me that the level of exposure just wouldn't even compare to a can that is fully lined with the stuff.

[Quirky]

but it''s not just the sealing rings, right? isn't the lid itself coated in the epoxy resin that has bpa in it?

I know that you leave a headspace when canning, but i'm pretty sure that during processing the contents are boiling up against the lid.

[lmonter]

Well, I know it sounds trite, but it's kind of one of those pick-your-poison kinds of things.

I don't know that every single particle of food in a quart jar is going to boil up to the inside of the lid while you're processing. Plus must commercial canning folks, especially when it comes to things like tomatoes and such, line their cans with stuff as well (and not just the lid). So unless you boycott buying all commercially canned stuff as well... you get my point.

Add in that the only BPA-free jars that I've found are Weck, and that the 1-liter jars are about $1.50-$2/ea before you add in shipping... when you have an 800-1000 jar stash like I do (including heavy-duty hand-me-downs from my aunt and grandma!), it just ain't gonna happen until I win the powerball or something.

I have come across something else (a reusable canning lid - safe for water bath and pressure canning) over the years, but haven't taken the plunge with emailing the guy yet... I can't remember the exact name of them, but there was a big ole thread on them over at IDig a year or two or three ago.

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

I'm in the camp of not too worried about it because the lid isn't in as much contact with the food as it would be if it was the whole can.

There are old fashioned glass lids with rubber rings out there though. They can be hard to find but they're out there.

ETA this company makes them.

http://www.weckcanning.com/

[reducereuserecycle]

[noobmom]

Yep, weck is pretty much the only option I know of.

Count me among those who just try not to worry the BPA in the lids too much. Generally, the food doesn't touch the lid.

Depending on what you use the tomatoes for, freezing is your other option. But that's really only appropriate for tomatoes you'll use for sauce because of the texture issues. I have to say though, I froze a lot of whole tomatoes this year and it doesn't get much easier than washing them off and popping into the freezer. Sure beats all the processing.