A stitch in time .... (promotion of tin food containers) (column)

A stitch in time...

Hot on the heels of our appeal for co-operative promotion of canned food as environmentally-acceptable, safe and convenient, comes the recommendation of the U.K. government's Food Advisory Committee that there is a case for Britain to introduce a statutory limit of 200ppm of tin in canned food products. The adoption of the 200ppm figure was influenced by the fact that the committee felt it would reduce the likelihood of canned food having a tin content at or above the guideline limit of 250ppm set in 1983--with no significant level reduction indicated by the samples tested throughout the intervening period.

Unfortunately, the FAC's reasonable, low-key appraisal of a chronic situation was interpreted by the U.K.'s Press Association's coverage for general newspaper consumption in a typically lurid fashion, apparently bidding for another "food scare", with the headline "Too much tin in canned food says report", quoting single examples of tin levels ranging from 210-245 in canned tomatoes, 295 in a can of spaghetti and up to 240 in fruit cocktails and apricots--with the highest concentration of 365ppm. (In an imported can of asparagus tested in 1984!) The P.A. report failed to mention that half of the samples monitored through the years were imported. We draw attention to this to ensure that exporters of canned foods--wherever they and their markets may be--are aware of the need to ensure that products meet the standards of the importing country. [NOTE: "best before" dates will be compulsory in 1992.]

We can only claim ...