Reuters reports that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declined to ban the use of bisphenol A, more commonly known as BPA, despite claims by some that its use in food and beverage packaging could cause developmental harm to babies and children.
According to the story, “The FDA agreed to rule on whether to ban BPA use in food and beverage packaging as part of the settlement of a lawsuit reached in December with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). ‘The FDA denied the NRDC petition because it did not have the scientific data needed for the FDA to change current regulations, which allows the use of BPA in food packaging,’ FDA spokesman Douglas Karas said. ‘I cannot stress enough that this is not a final safety determination on BPA’.”
The story notes that “Canada declared BPA a toxic substance in 2010. Canada and Europe have already banned it in the production of baby bottles, and France banned it in food packaging.”
According to the story, “The FDA agreed to rule on whether to ban BPA use in food and beverage packaging as part of the settlement of a lawsuit reached in December with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). ‘The FDA denied the NRDC petition because it did not have the scientific data needed for the FDA to change current regulations, which allows the use of BPA in food packaging,’ FDA spokesman Douglas Karas said. ‘I cannot stress enough that this is not a final safety determination on BPA’.”
The story notes that “Canada declared BPA a toxic substance in 2010. Canada and Europe have already banned it in the production of baby bottles, and France banned it in food packaging.”
- KC's View:
-
I suspect that this is not a dead issue. I’m no scientist, but it just feels to me like one of those issues that is going to keep coming back, and that eventually - no matter how vociferous the lobbying by the chemical industry - BPA will be found to be harmful and will be banned.
But there also is a part of me what wonders if there is some sort of public relations equivalency between BPA and Pink Slime. Just wondering.
