I'll say it again, food is in a blender for such a very brief time that I think it hardly likely it makes any sort of difference. I am very particular about not storing food in plastic, I have invested quite a bit of money in glass "tupperware" and stainless steel lunch containers, but the blender? Not important IMHO. Not unless you are letting it run until the contents have gotten hot and since this is a raw site I bet none of us are doing that.

Coco it may be a good point. I didn't read on this subject properly, so not sure whether the was research on the relevance of contact times between food and plastic.

Though the linked wikipedia article on BPA mentions that in some countries the use of BPA is prohibited in kids' bottles. One may think that possibly the contact time is often brief there too - most often children's food is put there to be immediately fed, unless it is taken for a day out but even in those cases it is not really storing the food.

I think yours was one of the posts I read, that you try to avoid plastic!

BPA is most problematic under hot and acidic conditions. Sydasti and I had a go on this a few months back. With he taking Coco's position and my taking yours. That is I didn't want any BPA in food contact. I do think Coco has a point.

BPA is a monomer, a constituent of the polycarbonate polymer it is encased in. If it is not liberated or free through leaching, it is unlikely to pose a health risk. That said, I'm glad I have my Eastman Tritan Co-polymer for my Vitamix Pro-500.

John Kohler has said that there is BPA in Ultem... but again Coco's point is that the exposure period is too brief. Sydasti did show some nondetects (meaning no BPA leaching in to the food or beverage in food stocks with the biggest issue being in canned goods that had undergone heat.

Paul

Paul

I'm happy to say that our vitamix doesn't contain BPA so that point is moot. As for the BPB, no idea there but again food is in contact for a very limited period of time.

chat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
in some countries the use of BPA is
> prohibited in kids' bottles.


This is true here in Canada, there was a big recall a couple of years ago and Health Canada declared it a toxin only last year (not that this designation means anything in terms of manufacturing, it's still in every plastic, tetra or metal food container).


> One may think that
> possibly the contact time is often brief there too
> - most often children's food is put there to be
> immediately fed, unless it is taken for a day out
> but even in those cases it is not really storing
> the food.


This is a funny thing to believe. No offense but I take it you don't have children? Juice etc put into a sippy cup is usually there for hours if not the entire day, often it will be put back into the fridge still partially filled. Same with those plastic and rubber snack containers, they go in the purse sometimes for days, filled with nuts, raisins, cereal for some people. Food and drink in kid portion containers is most often in contact for a prolonged period of time. And people wash them in the high-heat environment of a dishwasher too, I wonder about the impact on those plastics off-gassing etc.
Plus all those premade juice boxes, granola bars, snack packs, etc. All lined with who-know-what as well as being full of preservatives. The things people feed to children, I'm constantly astonished.

That's true I don't have children yet.. I guess you are right about the contact time being brief should eliminate the problem - I realised, since what we are worrying about is plastic contaminating the food, then it follows that the longer the contact the more contamination will occur and vice versa..

Exactly! That's why I don't worry very much about the plastic parts of things like the juicer, blender, food processor, spiralizer, etc. Food is touching it for such a small amount of time, I figure it would have to be coated with something easily transferrable to contaminate food in such a short period of time, most of it seems pretty stable to me.

I think as long as you are not making hot soup in your Vitamix, I agree. Some people use friction in the VM to make hot soups, running 4 minutes or more. That if something that is done on a regular basis with a polycarbonate carafe would not be advisable. Again, for Eastman Tritan Copolymer, this is not an issue.

Paul

I thought that polycarbonate was ok? When I bought my 'reverse osmosis' filter to remove 'sodium fluoride', the water guy said polycarbonate was the best 'plactic' to store water.

Also, here in Oz, we're told that if the plastic containers have either a '1' or I think '7' pressed into the bottom, then it's the least danerous. What do you think about it?

Geo, it seems polycarbonate is the one which usually contains BPA. And incidentally that's why it is unreliable to rely on numbers on the bottom of the container. Have a look at this article:

[shine.yahoo.com]

I just found another link:

[healthychild.org]

here they list all numbers with brief explanations of plastic types.

Geo, polycarbonate contains bpa which again is a "monomer"... that is a synthetic part (plastic) that it is incorporated into a "polymer"... a plastic that contains two or more monomers. And yes, it has BPA.

To reinforce the earlier message... having BPA in the polymer doesn't mean you need to get rid of it. Risk = hazard X exposure. The BPA content (levels matter, how much BPA????) x the likelihood you will be exposed to it.

In polycarbonate, with normal blending practice... practically nothing. I think this was Coco's point above (apologies if I have mischaracterized).

For a water filter, I wouldn't think twice about it. Nothing heated, nothing acidic. No exposure, no risk.

My pur water filter is polycarbonate. It's what my wife and son and I drink from. BPA is only risky under heat or acidity afaik

Paul

Hi
Thanks for your posts.
@ geo , my blade has 4 blades, I will order the other model (Thanks Oyster, everything is cheap)
@ chat About the plastic thing, I agree I rather avoid

Hmmm, when I bought my filter I also bought a 10litre polycarbonate storage container. I'm still using it, but it has developed a very slow leak around the tap. I was going to order another, but after this info I'm not so sure. The water gets replaced quickly though, so perhaps it's not so crucial?

chat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Geo, it seems polycarbonate is the one which
> usually contains BPA. And incidentally that's why
> it is unreliable to rely on numbers on the bottom
> of the container. Have a look at this article:
>
> [shine.yahoo.com]
> -if-plastic-drinkware-dishes-and-reusable-bottles-
> are-bpa-free-1561327.html

BPA is in polycarbonate and other plastics as well.

Yes thx, I checked out a couple of journal articles about BPA. Ostensibly it can even leach at room temperature, but increases with use (washing, brushing etc).

BPB is nowhere in wikipedia or anywhere else, except as maybe 'Blackpool Pleasure Beach', Bone Palace Ballet, Birthday Party Bash and the closest to plastic is 'Banned Plastic Bags' LOL.

geo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BPB is nowhere in wikipedia or anywhere else,
> except as maybe 'Blackpool Pleasure Beach', Bone
> Palace Ballet, Birthday Party Bash and the closest
> to plastic is 'Banned Plastic Bags' LOL.

BPB is in wikipedia, check the link quoted earlier in this thread:

[en.m.wikipedia.org]

What is not in wikipedia is the suggestion that BPB is harmful, that's true. But then, until recently there was similarly no such suggestion on BPA..

Not to be completely paranoid personally I think the right approach is as was mentioned in this thread: do think to what extent you expose yourself to real/potential harms by using plastic, and use it accordingly



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2012 07:00AM by chat.

chat Wrote:

>until
> recently there was similarly no such suggestion on
> BPA..


Nothing official but some health food stores and a major sporting goods chain here in Canada stopped carrying Nalgene bottles as early as 2001 because of reports that the BPA they were lined with was toxic. It hasn't been unknown, it's my personal understanding that the official bodies governing these recommendations etc do not take action until the evidence is so heavy that to ignore it any further (for the sake of commerce) becomes impossible. My mom has been avoiding transfats since the 70's but it's only recently become a mainstream discussion.

Ok, thx chat for that I did eventually find it (whew), even a journal article about migration a from plastic lined tin into tomatoes. And apparently there are many other dirivatives of 'bisphenol' that I wasn't aware of....

[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

JohnA, I appologise for not believing you regarding this chemical.

But if I punch in bisphenol b, nothing comes up, even in the wikipedia's own search box. But when I typed in 'bisphenol' only, a heap of suggestions drop down, and right at the bottom of these was bisphenol b. It's so bizare, but if I added the 'b' in my browser search box, no suggestions dropped down, nothing, crazy.

Geo, you are right, there is not much on the other bisphenols. It could mean it's not important or nobody really researched the impact. I found the article in NY Times I previously quoted [www.nytimes.com]
where it's written "Bisphenols are shaping up to be a dysfunctional family of chemicals. BPAF is BPA’s fluorinated twin. It is used in electronic devices, optical fibers and more. New studies have found BPAF to be an even more potent endocrine disrupter than BPA. Bisphenol B and Bisphenol F are other variants used instead of BPA in various products. In the limited testing done on those chemicals in other countries, scientists found Bisphenol B to be more potent than BPA in stimulating breast cancer cells. "
The journalist knows more maybe ...

Thank you all of your input. It is the time for me to buy a new blender. Two things that I concern besides price are house power and glass/plastic jar. I did not see any high power one with glass yet. I do like raw food idea. But, I am scare micro and chemical harzard. I have to use hot water wash my vegettables. Hard for me to make decision.

Hi trsc, like Coco has said on this thread, the food is in contact with the plactic for such a short time that any migration from the plactic to the food would be negligible.

Cheers, jalan

Here's another article I just ran across about BPA, etc --

Consumer Alert: BPA-Free Goods Still Contain Toxic Bisphenol

[www.activistpost.com]

Thx for the link kidraw, and I think there should be much more accessible infor re bisphenol and not just BPA.

it would be helpful since the accusation is implied whether any of "bisphenol s" is in Eastman Tritan Copolymer or if there are difference in risk between exposure for bpa and "bps". Based on what data?

Paul



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2012 06:30PM by pborst.

Hmmm yes it would be very helpful Paul. Also, I've noticed lately that there's BPA free drink containers being advertised here in Oz. So, I wonder what other chemical they use, as there's usually an alternative?

Frankly, I don't beleive that any plactics are any good for health in the long term.

Cheers, jalan

Hi Folks, I am on the market for a new blender. I purschased a warrinv 1.5 hp with steel jug but its not strong enough to mKe kale smoothies. Does anybodh know if the jugs of vita/blendtec have BPS. Seems like the companies are replacing bpa with bps. Also whats up with the haze in the jars? Is the blender geeting micro scratches? Is plastic coming off into the liquds? Is the 3.5 hs from warring with steel jug going to be strong enough to blend carrots and apples? Please ignore the errors typing from my phone.

The haze in plastic is micro scratches yep. Steel might get scratches too, and it will also oxidise if you put anything acidic in it. I think the best bet is a glass jug. I would look for a blender make where you can buy the parts separately. This way if you accidentally smash the jug you can replace it, instead of buying a whole new blender.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

I have two Vita-Mix blenders, both bought used. One I found advertised for $50 on a local website and the other was $5 at a thrift store. Both have stainless steel containers and though they are older Models 3600 and 4500, they are still working well and probably will for a long time to come.

They are always for sale on eBay though they tend to sell for about $150.

Three weeks ago I bought a cheap and compact blender with a thick glass container, which works great for one person (me). I have blend nuts, carrots and I didn't have any problem. Sometimes all is just about promotion.. I wouldn't believe, I just now have read that all these super wow blenders that I read here and there, have a..plastic container!!
Nah! don't eat that stuff

Edit: I wanted to buy with a glass container when the one with a plastic (from my ex-girlfriend) broke.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2012 10:49AM by SkyFeather ~.

It is actually better to blend using a plastic container, and even better if the plastic is BPA-free. The plastic container I use with my Vita-Prep 3 is 48-ounces, not BPA-free, and no longer in production. What am I going to do if it breaks?
Glass has several disadvantages....the main one for me is inconvenience....Glass is so damn heavy, and unsafe with a high-speed Blender......WY