More calls for a BPA ban in the US

The Canmaker: "A US congressman is planning to get bisphenol-A (BPA), the chemical used to make polycarbonate bottles and some can coatings, banned following a campaign by a Milwaukee newspaper.

Edward Markey, a democrat from Massachusetts, said he plans to re-introduce a bill when the US congress convenes in January that will ban BPA from use in food and drinks containers."

Markey is responding to an article by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in Wisconsin, which funded a study by a research centre into the leaching of BPA from ‘microwave-safe’ containers that included a can of Stagg Chili made by Hormel Foods. The study claims that levels of BPA were high enough to replicate in humans the toxic effects found in research on animals.

The study was carried out by XeroAnalytical LLC, based in Columbia, Missouri.

The highest level of BPA found per container was 1,094 nanograms from a can of infant formula. This is one six-hundredth of the tolerable daily intake allowed in Europe, which in turn is set with a safety factor of five. The Stagg Chili can level was 356 ng.

“This test of ‘microwave safe’ containers adds to the already vast and compelling body of knowledge indicating that BPA is dangerous and unsuitable for all food and beverage containers,” Markey said.

Another of the products analysed was from Campbell Soup. John Faulkner, its director of brand communications, told the newspaper that the BPA levels allegedly found by the tests were too low for public concern. The level was 12 nanograms.

“These levels are extremely low,” Faulkner said, referring specifically to his company’s Just Heat & Enjoy tomato soup product. “In fact, you might just be able to find similar levels in plain old tap water due to ‘background’ levels.”