FDA to Reexamine Risk of Bisphenol-A; Congress, States Consider Legislative Bans

DLA Pipers: "FDA has announced that, at the request of legislators, it will reconsider its 2008 conclusion that food contact articles that contain bisphenol-A (BPA) are safe."

Last year, FDA stated that BPA exposure levels from such items, including those for infants and children, are too low to cause adverse health effects. Now, in response to a request from Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Bart Stupak (D-MI), chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, the agency is reconsidering its conclusion.

BPA is an organic compound used to manufacture the polycarbonate plastics in hard-plastic kitchen utensils, refillable beverage containers and sports bottles, and baby bottles. BPA is also found in the epoxy resins used to manufacture the plastic coating inside canned foods and beverages. FDA regulates these products under its indirect food additive rules, which require that manufacturers limit the molecular weight and viscosity of certain polymers, including BPA. 21 C.F.R. secs. 177.5555, 177.1595.