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Loading...Victory! FDA Bans BPA in Baby Bottles, Sippy Cups
It’s official. As of July 18, the US Food and Drug Administration has banned bisphenol A or BPA from baby bottles and children’s sippy cups. Care2 members played no small part in this victory. Over 75,000 people signed petitions supporting this ban.
While a positive announcement, the response of many parents and consumers is likely to be not so much “how great!” but “what took so long?”
BPA is an estrogen-mimicking chemical that can seep into food. Public concern about the chemicals has grown in the wake of studies such as one that found that, in 2,000 people, over 90 percent had BPA in their urine, not to mention a 2010 FDA announcement about the “potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children.”
Manufacturers have already ceased to use BPAs in baby bottles and sippy cups and CNN goes so far as to say that the FDA’s decieion is ”largely symbolic.” The New York Times notes that the FDA made its decision at the behest of the American Chemistry Council, which is the main trade association of the chemistry industry and which has wanted to clear up confusion about the safety of BPA.
Indeed, Michael Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods at the FDA, downplayed the decision, saying that it “simply codified what the industry was already doing based on the preference of consumers and did not reflect concerns about the safety of BPA in baby bottles or toddler’s cups.” Based on available evidence, Taylor said that “we continue to support its safe use in other materials.”
In other words, the FDA is swerving short of saying BPAs are unsafe. Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women and Families, said that “The FDA is slowly making progress on this issue, but they are doing the bare minimum here.”
The ban does not extend to other uses of BPA, in containers for baby formula, in water and soda bottles made from clear and hard plastics (polycarbonate) and in the linings of food and beverage cans. Dr. Sarah Janssen, a senior scientist at the environmental advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council, emphasized to CNN that, for the FDA to “truly protect the public” it needs to ban BPA “from all food packaging.”
Is the FDA’s ban nothing more than a pyrrhic victory for public health, a way to (in the words of Dr. Janssen) “dodge the bigger questions of BPA’s safety”?
Thanks to the over 75,000 Care2 members who signed the petitions against BPA in sippy cups!
Related Care2 Coverage
Beauty Products May Be Slowly Killing You
More Americans Drinking BPA in Canned Beer, Thanks to Pabst Drinking Hipsters
Read more: bisphenol a, BPA, chemicals, fda, food safety, kids health, plastic, polycarbonate, sippy cup, success story
Photo by nerissa's ring
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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74 comments
+ add your ownGood! It needs to be banned in sweden to. See parent buying bottles with BPA all the time and many don´t even know what it is. Even worse with childrens toys, where there are no BPA free options in plastic toys.
Good
Go back to using glass bottles and avoid canned food. Some places are taking out BPA but what are they replacing it with? BPA is also in reciepts. It's 2012, why aren't all reciepts electronic? Or at least given the option? One store allowed to have my reciept e-mailed.
Bella notizia.
thik ,ठीक
That's Incredible!!
It shouldn't have been there to begin with, but I could NOT be happier that it is now banned. Next step.. Banned everywhere!!
Ban all the bisphenols.
http://www.anh-usa.org/is-bpa-free-a-lie/
Never underestimate the power of ignorant people in large groups.
Care to read the scientific evidence?
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=012326687056111711469%3Ablhevqyaws0&q=BPA#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=BPA&gsc.page=1
FDA ban of BPA in baby bottles..."Largely Symbolic" More like a slap in the face to all mothers worldwide. Whats the point of a ban in bottles but NOT in baby food? What about Mom's food? Does the FDA understand the basics of human anatomy? Mom eats BPA tainted food pass chemical via blood, umbilical cord, placenta to unborn. Remember what we are talking about here!..... A decision by chemical companies, big Agro, food retailers and the government {protection} agencies to allow "unnecessary"poison into our food. My goodness! The Poisoning of Children, is there a higher crime? Get informed, organize, take action.
Next step is to get them to ban BPA in anything related to food. I dont want that stuff in my food either
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