This is not a canned response

Dear Dr. Donohue: Recently, I heard that drinking or eating out of cans will cause aluminum poisoning. I also heard that food cooked in a microwave oven still retains some aluminum and that we, in turn, ingest it.

Is either of these claims true? — Anon.

Dear Dr. Donohue: My sister called to tell me that canned food can become tainted with aluminum and that I should not use it. I have many cans of food and am reluctant to throw them out. Should I? — A.S.

Answer: Where did this information come from? Was it the Internet? The Internet is a wonderful source of information, but not all of the information on it is true. You have to be discriminating about what you read there.

There is no basis in fact that canned foods or eating or drinking out of cans causes aluminum poisoning. Don’t throw your canned food away.