Beware of BPA in Food Containers, says FDA Panel

Tag : Containers

In a worrisome turn of events, the FDA advisory panel has pointedout that the agency had been mistaken to pass off the chemical BPA,which is widely used in the manufacture of baby feeding bottles andin other plastic items, as harmless.
The FDA Science Board voted unanimously Friday at a meeting inGaithersburg to accept a report that criticized the agency's recentrisk assessment of bisphenol-A (BPA).
The report alleged the FDA ignored scores of government-fundedstudies that traced connections between exposure to low doses ofBPA and increased incidence of diabetes, heart disease,hyperactivity, and cancer in laboratory animals.
While advising the FDA to re-assess the risks involved in the useof BPA, the report told the Science Board advisory panel that itdoes not declare BPA as harmful. The authors are also silent on thequestion of banning the substance in the manufacture of food andbeverage containers. The onus of decision in this regard has beenleft on FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach.
Agency spokeswoman Judy Leon has committed a written response tothe Science Board's decision and the report within the next 30days.
Meanwhile, opinion has been building up across a cross-section ofthe society that the FDA should impose a ban on the use of BPA inthe manufacture of food and beverage containers, at least till itis proved safe.
An advocacy group called The Environmental Working Group appealedto infant formula makers for voluntary elimination of BPA from thecans. Most of the large-scale formula manufacturers have opinedthat that they plan to phase out BPA as soon as they secure FDAapproval for alternatives.
However, there are doubts about easy access to alternatives.According to John Rost, chairman of the North American MetalPackaging Manufacturing Association, it could take as much as twoyears for FDA-approved alternatives to be phased in.
The FDA's stance on BPA has been controversial, as it ignored overa 100 studies as well as the submission of the National ToxicologyProgram, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), whichpointed to