This is alarming -- shopping in the canned food aisle should never be a “buyer beware” situation. We need Kroger to take a stand to make sure its suppliers stop lining their cans with BPA.

Avoiding BPA is harder than you might imagine: recent testing found this toxic chemical in 7 out of 10 cans on grocery store shelves nationwide, and up to 62% in Kroger stores. The hormonally active chemical has been found to migrate out of the lining of cans, get into the food we eat and make its way into our bodies.

Companies like General Mills and Campbell's will listen if their biggest retailers speak out against canned food lined with toxic chemicals. That’s why I’m taking the fight for healthy food to Kroger, the nation’s biggest supermarket chain, and started this petition. Only Kroger has the market share strength to pressure these major brands to take BPA out of their products. The company can also start by taking it out of its own store brand products.

We are asking Kroger to do the right thing for its customers. Five years ago, it pledged to tackle BPA in canned food. It’s time the nation’s biggest grocery seller lives up to its promise and protects customers’ health by eliminating and safely substituting this unnecessary chemical.

Make no mistake: the size and buying power of Kroger could help get BPA out of our grocery stores for good. That’s why customers like me are counting on Kroger to lead by example and eliminate BPA once and for all.

This petition is brought to you by the Mind the Store campaign, which is coordinated by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. The Mind the Store campaign is challenging the nation's biggest retailers to get tough on toxic chemicals. The Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition represents more than 11 million individuals and includes parents, health professionals, advocates for people with learning and developmental disabilities, reproductive health advocates, environmentalists and businesses from across the nation.

Mind the Store:

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families: