Though canned wine's durability, price point and convenience might seem attractive, wine lovers, beware: When consumed under certain conditions, these unassuming cans hold some serious dangers.
Here are
five important things to know about canned wine that will make you a
responsible consumer and protect your health.
BPA Content
We've
known about BPA in assorted canned goods since the 1960s. But what most
people don't think about is that it also extends to canned wines. BPA,
or the epoxy that contains bisphenol A (the chemical that keeps foods
from reacting to aluminum), is used for maximum preservation of canned
contents.
That means canned wine has the same potential risk
of a dangerous range of ailments attributed to BPA, including hormonal
damage, reproductive disorders, heart disease, irregular brain
development and cancer. The question is whether we get enough of it in
canned goods to cause harm. But you might not be ready to risk your
health for a six-pack of rose to find out.
Hidden Sugars
Canned
wines have been marketed as a convenient, portable drink. But the
bestselling and most critically-acclaimed canned wines are traditionally
fair-weather profiles, including chilled sparkling, roses or whites.
So
why all the fuss over these specific canned varietals? The residual and
added sugar content is surprisingly higher in white, rose and sparking
cans (anywhere from 3 to 15 grams/liter of residual sugar), which helps
the canned wine have that refreshing, sweet finish. Unfortunately,
that's at least double a normal glass of white wine, according to the
New York Times.
Harder to Detect Expiration
Sommelier
and Somm Journal senior wine editor Jessie Birschbach says that if
you're going to drink canned wine, it should be soon after you purchase
it. That's because, unlike traditional bottles of wine, it's harder to
tell when a can is fresh or has expired.
Usually, there are
lots of ways a wine drinker gets tipped off to their wine being past its
prime: color, taste and usually a low-but-detectable level of silt at
the bottom of the bottle. Not so with canned wines. The opacity of the
can, the natural smell of aluminum and often the taste of aluminum can
distort the drinker's ability to discern if the wine has gone bad. You
likely won't get sick drinking over-oxidized canned wine, but it won't
be very pleasant, to say the least.
Misleading Serving Sizes
One
hugely deceptive facet of canned wine is serving size. According to
registered dietician Miriam Jacobson, Americans often conceptualize can
serving size via other popular usages like soda and beer.
"If
you opt for a can of soda you can clearly see on the label that it's two
servings in one can. We aren't provided that information (with liquor),
so unless the general consumer knows that a glass of wine is 147.9
milliliters, they probably don't realize that they're drinking too much
in one go."
Unfortunately, a can of wine can range from 355
milliliters (a standard soda can or two glasses) to 500 milliliters
(more than three glasses of wine). And single-serving cans (250
milliliters) often come in six packs. Without considering specific
canned wine's serving size, a leisurely drink can become three, four or
more.
"Safe" Aluminum Can Linings
Some in the
canned wine industry emphasizes that their wine is safer, as it uses
non-BPA can liners to protect their product from the aluminum can it's
stored in. Under certain high temperature conditions (a.k.a. a summer
picnic), plastic liners can be dangerous, BPA or not.
