Beans means…?
There is a stark contrast in the baked bean market between
iconic brand-names and small, organic producers. Dan Welch investigates...
In 1901 Heinz baked beans were sold as a luxury item in Fortnum and Masons,
at a cost in today’s prices of £1.50 a can. Despite Jamie Oliver
putting beans on toast on his restaurant’s menu at £7 a head,
the demographics of baked bean consumption have reversed since the turn
of the last century. Today 1.5m cans are bought daily, with roughly half
of UK adults eating baked beans at least once a week.
Brand Wars
The UK market, worth £203m in 2004, is dominated by the iconic Heinz
brand, which commands a 50% value share. Since we last covered the sector
in EC71 the popular HP brand has disappeared from the shelves. In addition,
Branston Baked Beans were launched in 2005. Branston has been accused of
using “fake grassroots promotion” after apparent fans who posted
online eulogies to the new beans were revealed as the invention of a PR
firm.(1)
The market for organic baked beans continues to grow with established brands
recently joined by a Heinz organic option and the Nomato brand, which uses
a tomato-free recipe for those seeking to avoid the common ingredient due
to allergy, illness or as part of a macrobiotic diet.
Salt Content
High salt content has been a recurrent criticism of manufacturers of convenience
foods, especially those aimed at children. There is strong evidence that
links high salt intakes to high blood pressure, a major cause of strokes
and heart attacks, as well as osteoporosis, asthma, and stomach cancer.
There is also evidence that high salt intake in childhood may cause a predisposition
to health problems later in life.(2)
Heinz(3) and Premier Foods (owners of Branston)(4) have faced recent criticisms
for marketing children’s foods as “low” or “reduced
salt” products when levels did not justify such a description. Wessanen(5)
(owners of the De Rit and Whole Earth brands) has also been criticised for
high salt levels in a product deliberately marketed at children.
Heinz has reduced the sodium content of its beans in the UK by over 30%
since 2001, to 0.34g sodium per 100g product - meeting the target proposed
by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Branston has a similar level. Organic
brands do not necessarily have lower levels - with Whole Earth at 0.4g per
100g and Biona at 0.45g. Nor does Whole Earth follow best practice in labelling,(6)
unlike the mainstream brands, displaying sodium content only, without the
salt equivalent (multiply sodium content by 2.5 to get the salt equivalent
figure) and nutritional information by 100g only, rather than by the weight
of the contents.
Chemical Controversy
Since the late ‘90s there has been controversy over the chemical bisphenol-a
(BPA), used in the internal coating of 90% of food and beverage cans.
A 2001 survey by the FSA showed that BPA commonly “migrated” from
can linings into foods - including Heinz baked beans.(7) Cans are only one
source of BPA, however - it is found in a wide variety of products using polycarbonate
plastic, from mobile phones to babies’ bottles, and is an environmental
pollutant found in water systems and in the air.
Regulations produced following a review by the European Food Safety Authority
in 2004 have set “migration limits” of BPA that represent a five-fold
reduction on previous levels. However, Friends of the Earth, WWF and Greenpeace
have all called for BPA to be completely phased out of consumer use.
The chemical is an endocrine disrupter, with the potential to interact with
the body’s hormone systems.(9) High levels in the body have been linked
to miscarriages10 and animal tests have shown correlations between exposure
and both prostate cancer and hormonal abnormality.(11)
However, these findings have been strongly disputed by industry-linked bodies,
such as the American Plastics Council.(12) Dr. vom Saal, whose 1997 study
sparked the controversy, found that whilst more than 90% of the government-financed
studies noted adverse effects from the chemical, not one of the 11 industry-backed
studies did so.(13) Friends of the Earth have called industry responses to
the controversy “a shocking indictment of the secrecy of the canning
industry.”(14)
For acidic foods such as baked beans there is currently no alternative to
the use of can coatings containing BPA.(15) Alternatively you could
opt for Bionova or Biona, which come in glass jars.
Links
Consensus Action on Salt and Health www.actiononsalt.org.uk
Greenpeace Toxics Campaign www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics
Bisphenol A: a known endocrine disruptor WWF report www.wwf-uk.org/filelibrary/pdf/bpa.pdf
References
1 www.snackspot.org.uk/thread.php?story=0511251426fah viewed 12/10/06,
2 www.actiononsalt.org.uk viewed 12/10/6
3 Food Magazine,
Issue 74, July 2006
4 Keynote Market Report – Canned Goods 2005
5 Food Magazine, Issue 62 July 2003
6 “The Lie of the
Label, Why dishonest labelling is past it’s sell-by date” The
Co-operative Group 2002
7 “Food Standards Agency Consultation
on ‘Migration of bisphenol A from can coatings into food’ Response
from Friends of the Earth” FoE July 2001 15 Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004
8 Email from FSA 6/11/6
9 www.food.gov.uk/foodlabelling/packagingbranch/foodcontactmaterialsbpa/
viewed 3/11/06
10 Guardian 11/6/05
11 ABC News 6/7/06
12
www.bisphenol-a.org/ viewed 1/11/06
13 Toronto Globe and Mail, 31/5/06
14 “Food Standards Agency Consultation on ‘Migration of
bisphenol A from can coatings into food’ Response from Friends of the
Earth” FoE July 2001
15 Telephone conversation with Suma 6/11/06