No more toxic BPA in our food

Did you know that a chemical that has been implicated in everything from miscarriages to cancer to sexual dysfunction can be found in your groceries? Bisphenol-A — BPA — is contained in a broad range of food packaging including baby bottles, water bottles, almost all soda can liners and many other types of packaging.

A potent endocrine disruptor, BPA is present in detectable levels in over 90% of Americans and is a key ingredient not just in food packaging but in plastics of all kinds from PVC plumbing to register receipts. Make no mistake, BPA gets into our food: Consumer Reports and the Environmental Working Group have both studied the issue and found BPA in many of the canned products they tested, including infant formula, vegetables, soda and soup.

Hundreds of studies have confirmed the dangers of even low-level doses of BPA. The risks are severe enough that the prestigious Endocrine Society, the world's "premier professional organization for basic and clinical endocrine research and the treatment of endocrine disorders," released a special statement last summer explicitly warning that low-level exposure to BPA can adversely affect male and female reproduction, thyroid function, metabolism, and could even increase obesity.

The FDA, which has a long history of allowing industry-funded studies to guide policy, has responded to this controversy by embarking on a broad review of BPA research. But disturbingly, the FDA is also allowing a new multi-year government-funded study of BPA to use rats that many scientists believe are insensitive to the chemical — not a good sign.

We need to tell FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg that enough is enough. There is already overwhelming evidence that BPA is dangerous to our health. It has no place in our food, even at the lowest levels. It's time for the FDA to invoke the precautionary principle and put people's safety above corporate profits. When the FDA releases its BPA review on Nov. 30, the agency should call for an immediate ban on the use of BPA in any and all food packaging, including can linings, and should further require companies to fully test and disclose the nature of all chemical ingredients used in food packaging and linings.

No more toxic BPA in our food

We need to tell FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg that enough is enough. There is already overwhelming evidence that BPA is dangerous to our health. It has no place in our food, even at the lowest levels. It's time for the FDA to invoke the precautionary principle and put people's safety above corporate profits. When the FDA releases its BPA review on Nov. 30, the agency should call for an immediate ban on the use of BPA in any and all food packaging, including can linings, and should further require companies to fully test and disclose the nature of all chemical ingredients used in food packaging and linings.