Industries join forces to promote safety of Bisphenol A

The study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) last week, reported that higher BPA concentrations were associated with diagnoses of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), British Soft Drink Association (BSDA), the Packaging Federation and the Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association have signed a joint letter that was sent in response to unbalanced newspaper articles on the study.

Media manager at the BSDA Liz Bastone said the letters highlighted that “contrary to much of the media coverage, the overwhelming majority of soft drinks bottles and their caps are made from plastics, which do not contain BPA”.

The industry also stressed that where Bisphenol A is used it is strictly regulated and monitoring studies have shown that dietary exposure through potential migration through food packaging is “well below the tolerable daily intake”.

Bastone said: “The fact that the authors of the study itself confirmed that more research was necessary before any conclusions as to adverse health effects could be reached was also noted.”

The study was a joint venture between the University of Exeter, University of Plymouth and the University of Iowa in America.

In July, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed that exposure to BPA is well below the tolerable daily intake of 0.05 mg/kg bw previously set by EFSA, event for infants.

The Guardian and The Scotsman newspapers published the letter over the weekend and the industry has said that it will continue to work together to respond to any misleading media coverage.

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