US Congress calls for BPA-free formula containers

06 May 2008 22:36  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Two US Congressmen on Tuesday asked infant formula manufacturers to stop using bisphenol A (BPA) in their food packaging over health concerns.

Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak, both Michigan Democrats, sent letters to Mead Johnson & Company, Nestle USA, PBM Products and Abbott Nutrition expressing concerns over their use of BPA in the linings of their products’ containers.

BPA has been shown to cause cancer in high doses, although the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies the chemical as safe at levels normally ingested by humans. The two politicians have been calling for the FDA to reassess its judgment since January.

“While FDA continues its safety assessment and some retailers pull products containing BPA from their shelves, we cannot ignore the potential risk of infant formula packaging containing BPA that remains on the market,” Stupak said in a statement.

Abbott Nutrition, the Columbus, Ohio-based maker of Similac baby formula, has already started searching for an alternative packing material, the representatives said in a statement.

The move is the latest in a crackdown on the use of BPA, an important component of polycarbonate (PC) food containers.

Last week, a group of US senators proposed a bill calling for a ban on BPA in infant care products.  In mid-April, the Canadian government proposed banning PC food and beverage containers, and such retailers as Wal Mart and Kids R Us began pulling such products off their shelves.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has called the BPA scare overblown, saying the amount of BPA most people ingest does not pose any health threat.

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Author: Ben Lefebvre
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