WASHINGTON—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it will make a final ruling by March 31, 2012, on whether bisphenol A (BPA) should be banned from use in packaging for food and drinks.
FDA agreed to address the use of BPA as part of a settlement reached Dec. 7 with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which had filed a petition with FDA requesting a ban on BPA in food packaging, food containers and any material likely to come in contact with food back in 2008. In 2010, NRDC sued asking the court to require FDA to respond to its petition.
In January 2010, FDA announced that it had some concerns about the potential human health impacts of BPA and it would study the potential effects and ways to reduce exposure to BPA in food packaging. The agency has supported some steps to reduce BPA exposure but has not banned the chemical’s use.
In Ocotber 2010, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released its scientific opinion on the safety of BPA that concluded there is no convincing evidence for it to revise its current exposure limits. The panel also stated the data currently available do not provide convincing evidence of eurobehavioural toxicity of BPA.
