A new study from the US-based Harvard School of Public Health has shown that eating canned soup every day for five days can raise the level of Bisphenol-A (BPA) in your body by up to 1,221%. The study divided seventy-five volunteers into two groups, one of which ate canned vegetable soup for five days, while the other group consumed fresh vegetable soup.
While the research is concerning, the positive side is that the group who ate the fresh soup had significantly lower levels of BPA. As we have mentioned before – BPA is fairly easy to avoid. Use fresh or frozen foods where possible, and limit your use of plastics with food.
And make your own soup! It’s very easy to do and can take as little as an hour to prepare – check out this recipe for apple and squash soup that the kids will love. If you make a lot, freeze it until you want to use it. Just remember that pouring hot food into plastic or microwaving plastic containers can release BPA. You don’t want all your hard work ruined, so make sure you store and defrost your soup in glass containers. Unlike other packaging materials, glass is completely free of BPA.
Fresh soup can also be placed in a canning jar and refrigerated until needed. As long as the soup is hot and the jar is clean, the soup should last for a week. Just pop a jar in your bag and you have an instant soup to reheat in the microwave at work.
Jars also make the perfect containers for instant soup mixes which you can easily prepare at home. They even make eye-catching gifts – ideal for the holiday season. Here are some recipes for a curried lentil soup mix, a hearty instant beef or a fun alphabet soup to entertain the kids in the holidays.
If you have other recipes to share, why not add them to the Friends of Glass recipe book!
