US NGOs call for retailers to eliminate BPA in food packaging

Six US NGOs are calling for food retailers to eliminate bisphenol A (BPA) from food packaging and label all chemicals used in can liners.
 
The report released on 30 March 2016 reveals that two of three linings for food packaging cans contain BPA.
 
The NGOs say BPA is an endocrine disrupting chemical, and there is evidence it may contribute to a “host of harmful health effects including breast and prostate cancer, infertility, type-2 diabetes, obesity, asthma and attention deficit disorder”. Meanwhile, BPA has the capacity to migrate to food and absorbed by human bodies, raising the exposure to BPA.
 
It is noted that BPA has received great attention in US and EU. California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), for example, has issued a proposed emergency regulation under Proposition 65 on 17 March 2016, regarding exposure to BPA from canned and bottled foods and beverages. It requires attaching a uniform warning for canned and bottled foods and beverages to inform customers of risks. On 14 March 2016, EU notified World Trade Organisation (WTO) of Circular G/TBT/N/EU/370 to publish a draft Commission Regulation proposing to strengthen the migration limit for BPA in plastic food contact materials and to expand the scope of this new limit to varnished or coated food contact materials and articles. In addition, French REACH competent authorities plan to submit ECHA a proposal to classify BPA as an SVHC. Dutch authorities are also pushing for tougher control on the EU basis.
 
However, the US FDA concluded in 2014 that BPA is safe in the “current approved uses in food container and packaging”, while the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), last year, concluded that current exposure levels pose no risk to human health.
 
C&K Testing reminds businesses that food contact materials for children and EN 71 have established specific limits on BPA. Businesses especially plastic food contact materials operators should deal with BPA given its impact on human health.