FDA does an about face on BPA

In a shift of position, the Food and Drug Administration is expressing concerns about possible health risks from bisphenol-A, or BPA, a widely used component of plastic bottles and food packaging that it declared safe in 2008. Bisphenol-a BPA, found in Nalgene brand water bottles, is one of the most widely used synthetic chemicals in industry. The agency said Friday that it had “some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children,” and would join other federal health agencies in studying the chemical in both animals and humans.

via In Reversal, U.S. Expresses Concerned Over Additive to Plastics – NYTimes.com.

Industry Trying to Convince Public with Fear Tactics that BPA is OK (Suprised?)

Manufacturers of cans for beverages and foods and some of their biggest customers, including Coca-Cola, are trying to devise a public relations and lobbying strategy to block government bans of a controversial chemical used in the linings of metal cans and lids.

According to internal notes of a private meeting, obtained by The Washington Post, frustrated industry executives huddled for hours Thursday trying to figure out how to tamp down public concerns over the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA. The notes said the executives are particularly concerned about the views of young mothers, who often make purchasing decisions for households and who are most likely to be focused on health concerns….

Industry representatives weighed a range of ideas, including “using fear tactics [e.g. “Do you want to have access to baby food anymore?” as well as giving control back to consumers (e.g. you have a choice between the more expensive product that is frozen or fresh or foods packaged in cans) as ways to dissuade people from choosing BPA-free packaging,” the notes said.

via Strategy Is Being Devises to Protect Use of Bisphenol A and Block U.S. Ban – washingtonpost.com