LunchBots

Dear Eden Organic,

Lately, we’ve heard so much about Campbell’s announcing it will eventually start using BPA-free cans, but I wanted to take a moment to thank you, the one company that’s quietly been doing this since last century.

I realize not many people know you made the switch in 1999, after two years of going back and forth with your can suppliers, who wouldn’t disclose what chemicals were in their linings. Back then, BPA was not the big issue it is now, but new research was surfacing about its effects as a hormone disruptor.

Eden Organic’s president, Michael Potter, didn’t wait for BPA to make big headlines, or for customers to start demanding healthier, non-toxic food packaging. He made the switch because he knew it was the right thing to do. Your cans lined with enamel made from vegetable resin instead of harmful chemicals drove up costs by 15%–not a small number for a small company. Thanks for putting the health of your customers before the health of your bottom line.

Since you pioneered BPA-free lining in food cans, I’ve been thrilled to see several other companies follow suit. But didn’t anyone else find it odd that only smaller manufacturers were taking such initiative? I’m excited that Campbell’s decision will probably alert other major food companies that it’s time to take the toxins out of our food packaging, but I can’t help but wonder: Why did it take the world’s largest soup maker 13 years to take responsibility for the chemicals in their food products?

While Campbell’s announcement is a big deal, it’s also vague, saying they have “plans to make the switch as soon as it can find ‘feasible alternatives.’”

Feasible alternatives? Clearly those alternatives have been feasible for a while now. Let’s hope Campbell’s and the rest of the world catch up soon.

Thanks again for being a pioneer,

Jacqueline Linder