IBWA Cautions Against BPA Ban

Posted by Andrew on 26 March 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: News, IBWA

The International Bottled Water Association has co-signed a letter to two senators from the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee cautioning against them enacting a ban on bisphenol-A (BPA). The proposed ban would be part of the Food Safety Modernization Act, and would ban the use of BPA in food products.

 

IBWA has co-signed a letter to Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Michael Enzi (R-WY), the chairman and ranking minority, respectively, of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, urging them not to include a ban on bisphenol-A (BPA) in S 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act. IBWA’s co-signers include the Grocery Manufacturers Association, American Chemistry Council, North American Metal Packaging Alliance, Society of the Plastic Industry, and other trade associations Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) has drafted an amendment to ban BPA in food products and threatened to place a hold on food safety legislation if it is not included.

 

In the letter, the organizations state the following:

 

“To be clear, we strongly support S. 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act.  At the same time, we are concerned that amendments to ban BPA would undermine the goals of food safety legislation and delay final passage. BPA has been used for over 30 years to improve the safety and quality of food and beverages, including by providing protective coatings for cans and the metal closures for glass jars.  Because adequate alternatives are not currently available, bills such as S. 593 would adversely impact an exceptionally wide range of canned and other packaged food, from fruits and vegetables to soft drinks and beer…. We urge you to allow the FDA and NIH to complete their assessment of the safety of BPA and we urge you to oppose amendments to ban BPA and short-circuit the agency’s review process.”

 

The House passed food safety legislation (HR 2749) containing a provision by Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) on BPA that requires the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to report to Congress on its evaluation of the safety of BPA by December 31, 2009, and what actions it will be taking on BPA.

 

IBWA will continue to oppose a BPA ban in the food safety legislation and will work with others to support the current process by FDA on evaluating food contact substances. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact IBWA’s Director of Government Relations Dan Felton at [email protected].

Source: http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/ibwa/issues/2010-03-25/index.html

 

BPA is an important product that has been used as a protective coating for many years. While it is important to consider any possible health issues that might be related to BPA use, the existing evidence is not serious enough to call for an immediate ban which could have serious consequences on the food industry. It is important to explore both sides of the issue fully before any action is taken.