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Filed Under Bisphenol-A, Food Safety

My husband came home from a grocery shopping trip not long ago and he had a look of total excitement and triumph on his face. “Look what I found!” he said as he handed me a whipped cream can looking item. It was the new Batter Blaster that I keep hearing about. At first glance I thought “What a cool idea!” and truthfully, it is a pretty cool concept. Organic batter in a can? Yes please! But of course, the SafeMama in me wasn’t totally convinced that the can that held this precious certified organic product was BPA free. So I set out to find the answer.

I checked their website first and while their product information tells us the can is totally recyclable (although I’m told you have to check with your local recycling center to see whether you can actually recycle it on your area) but there was no mention of BPA. This always is a red flag for me. Typically, companies who offer organic food or safer products have a BPA free logo or address it in their FAQ’s because who wouldn’t want to leverage that angle? Its marketing…. if its BPA Free (by accident or otherwise) you want people to know. Since it was missing from an easy access place like their company website I had a feeling I wasnt going to be pleasantly surprised.

However, I did speak to a company representative and my question “Does the can contain BPA?” was answered. The answer? Yes, and No.

According to Batter Blaster, the cans they were using did contain BPA in the epoxy lining of the metal interior. No surprise there. Of course they assured me it was within FDA regulation limits and was well below the allowable BPA content. You know that isn’t good enough for SafeMama. BPA Free or I don’t buy it. BUT, Batter Blaster recently changed their cans to a BPA Free one. So all the new Batter Blaster’s coming into stores are in the new BPA Free steel cans. Hooray! But hold on a minute…

My next question was “Ok so are there still cans in stores right now in the old BPA containing packaging?“ The answer that I concluded from our conversation was Yes. Batter Blaster rolled out their new BPA Free packaging but they are still selling the older style cans (I can assume until they run out of it). I asked how I would be able to tell the difference and Batter Blaster told me that the older cans look like the ones featured on their website (See the homepage).

The old package/can has a “lip” or a “rim” near the top (See inset). The newer packaging does not and appears more streamlined.
Batter Blaster told me that the cans only have a shelf life of a few months so anything marked with an expiration date of April 2010 or later would be in the new BPA Free packaging.

So I pulled out the can my husband brought home and flipped it over. April 2010. But it was in an old style can with the rim she described. So perhaps a better gauge will be the new style of packaging (which I cannot find a photo of but will post if I see one).

Right now the Batter Blasters in my local store all have the BPA style packaging so I can only assume that these have not been sold out enough to warrant ordering in the new packaged cans yet, despite the April 2010 expiration dates. So I may wait a while before I purchase it again.

Update: Here is a photo of what the new BPA Free packaging looks like:

Thanks Schmedley for pointing me to it.

Posted by: SafeMama Kathy on March 9, 2010

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Comments

11 Responses to “Batter Blaster Organic Pancake Batter: BPA in Packaging?”

Nick Tangborn on March 10th, 2010 12:36 am

Hello, I wanted to add a little more detail to this post. With the FDA poised to review rules on the use of Bisphenol-A (BPA), Batter Blaster, with the assistance of a national food lab, tested our product (in August 2009) for the presence of BPA in the batter. The results of our analyses did not detect BPA in the batter, thus no migration of BPA from the can’s protective liner into the batter occurs.

Until recently there was no viable alternative to epoxy coating that met the existing requirements of all products. However, new BPA-free cans are now commercially available and Batter Blaster has made the switch to new BPA-free cans.
Kathy on March 10th, 2010 1:31 am

Thank you Nick for the additional information. Despite the test results, we are glad to see that new packaging that is BPA Free. I also thank you for the great customer service I received when contacting you.
McKenna on March 10th, 2010 3:49 pm

Regarding Nick’s comment, if ‘new BPA-free cans are now commercially available’, what are they made from? Does anyone know? We surely don’t want to go from one toxic chemical to another….
Kathy on March 10th, 2010 4:06 pm

Good question McKenna! From what I gathered on my call with Batter Blaster the new can is just regular food grade steel (without the epoxy lining). However, Nick if you want to elaborate please feel free.
Hungry Jack on March 10th, 2010 10:48 pm

We LOVE Batter Blaster at our house. Dori, are you using non-stick spray? Also, leave the can out of the fridge for 10-15 minutes before you start, that way the batter’s not so cold when it hits the griddle and the inside cooks before the outsides gets overdone. Also, the waffles are AWESOME and don’t have a learning curve like the pancakes. ENJOY!
Schmedley on March 10th, 2010 11:33 pm

see the new style Batter Blaster can here: http://www.batterblaster.ca/
Lisa on March 12th, 2010 4:48 am

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE safemama, but…does it really take that much effort to mix up pancake batter? Most of the ingredients are all packaged in paper-flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, eggs so less packaging waste/cost, right?
Kathy on March 12th, 2010 1:21 pm

Hi Lisa-

I wasn’t so much writing about it to support buying the product, I just know a lot of people who DO (I prefer homemade myself) and I wanted to find out the safety of the Batter Blaster packaging.
Heather on March 16th, 2010 2:32 am

What’s great about Batter Blaster is you don’t have to make a whole batch. When you get a craving (which is often for me!), you just squirt a couple pancakes on the griddle, drop in a few fresh blueberries, and voila! Fresh hot pancakes for one, not necessarily the whole family. Anyway, thanks so much for the information on the BPA, I’ll be looking for those new cans!
heather on March 17th, 2010 5:57 am

Had to look for this product after reading about it. Am confused about the “new look” however. The first can I found had expired on Jan. 28th! At another store I got one that was set to expire March 17th. After hubby brought the first can back for a refund, the store also gave him a new can, with an expiry in May. All the cans look the same, though – like the pic above.
Kathy on March 17th, 2010 6:20 pm

Hi Heather,
I think all the cans in the new packaging are BPA Free so I’m not sure about the expiration dates – perhaps the can you first received was one of the first of the new rollout. If you have any doubts you can call Batter Blaster and ask… they were very open and helpful to my inquiries.