Beware of BPA in Food Containers, says FDA Panel

The Money Times: "In a worrisome turn of events, the FDA advisory panel has pointed out that the agency had been mistaken to pass off the chemical BPA, which is widely used in the manufacture of baby feeding bottles and in other plastic items, as harmless."

The FDA Science Board voted unanimously Friday at a meeting in Gaithersburg to accept a report that criticized the agency's recent risk assessment of bisphenol-A (BPA).

The report alleged the FDA ignored scores of government-funded studies that traced connections between exposure to low doses of BPA 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 use of BPA, the report told the Science Board advisory panel that it does not declare BPA as harmful. The authors are also silent on the question of banning the substance in the manufacture of food and beverage containers. The onus of decision in this regard has been left on FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach.

Agency spokeswoman Judy Leon has committed a written response to the Science Board's decision and the report within the next 30 days.

Meanwhile, opinion has been building up across a cross-section of the society that the FDA should impose a ban on the use of BPA in the manufacture of food and beverage containers, at least till it is proved safe.

An advocacy group called The Environmental Working Group appealed to infant formula makers for voluntary elimination of BPA from the cans. Most of the large-scale formula manufacturers have opined that that they plan to phase out BPA as soon as they secure FDA approval for alternatives.

However, there are doubts about easy access to alternatives. According to John Rost, chairman of the North American Metal Packaging Manufacturing Association, it could take as much as two years for FDA-approved alternatives to be phased in.