The FDA and BPA

The feds are delayed

By Culinate staff

December 4, 2009

Back at the start of November, Consumer Reports issued a damning report on the levels of bisphenol A detectable in a variety of packaged foods, including in foods labeled "BPA-free."

On November 30, the FDA was supposed to issue its latest assessment on the safety of BPA — a chemical used in plastics that’s detectable in the bodies of most Americans. But that date came and went, although the FDA has issued assurances that its review will be made public “before 2010.”

As Marion Nestle noted on her Food Politics blog, “I can’t think of a single reason not to ban it.” Nestle, who called recently for the feds to pass a comprehensive food-safety law, tipped her hat to Jill Richardson at the blog La Vida Locavore, for her writing about the food industry's attempts to keep BPA legal.

Of course, like global warming, we may be too late on the whole plastics thing. Doesn’t mean we can’t try, though.