Food CEO: Lawsuit Seeks to Ban BPA from Food Packaging

Here’s an interesting development. Lawsuit seeks to ban BPA from food packaging. From Food CEO:

The Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit today against the Food and Drug Administration for its failure to act on a petition to ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging, food containers, and other materials likely to come into contact with food. BPA, a hormone-disrupting chemical linked to serious health problems, poses a particular risk to fetuses, infants and young children. NRDC filed today’s lawsuit in U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

BPA is a substance in the lining of cans for canned foods (veggies, fruit, etc), soda cans, beer cans — indeed, there’s barely a food can on the market that doesn’t contain BPA. Even certified organic food cans probably contain BPA in the lining.

This is not out of evil negligence, really, and it’s not a Big Food versus small regional food issue. Changing packaging is no easy feat, especially for something as universal as a dang can. Even small food companies buy their labeled packages far in advance, and big companies buy their cans by the warehouse-full. Suggesting that these companies jump horses and come up with a new can (or glass bottle) is far, far easier said than done.

So in some ways, a lawsuit agains the FDA is exactly what’s needed, if a change is going to come at all. The FDA “supporting” and “facilitating” a change isn’t going to compel the industry to bite the BPA bullet and make a wholesale transition. Consumers “voting with their forks” aren’t going to make the necessary changes to safe alternatives fast enough to counter the serious dangers suggested by the FDA’s own research on BPA. From the Food CEO article:

“BPA-free alternatives are already available and on the market. The FDA has no good reason to drag their feet on banning it,” said Dr. Sarah Janssen, a senior scientist in the Environment and Public Health program at NRDC. “It’s upsetting that food is most people’s primary source of exposure to BPA. The FDA should act now to eliminate this unnecessary risk.”

Agreed.

Photo by GJKEND, courtesy Creative Commons License.