A decision has been made by the Australian government to introduce a planned phase out of plastic containing bisphenol A (BPA) from food contact materials targetted at babies and young children. The announcement follows a similar ban on BPA materials in Canada, Demark and France.
The issue is the growing amount of research linking BPA with a decline in reproductive health. The Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Mark Butler, said in a statement, “Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has evaluated the safety of BPA and plasticisers in baby bottles and concluded that levels of intake of BPA or plasticisers are very low and do not pose a risk to babies’ health.
“However, the US Food and Drug Administration announced earlier this year that it is carrying out further research into the risks for babies and infants associated with BPA.”
This has obviously prompted a rethink by Australian health officials, leading to Butler’s concession, “The Australian government appreciates there has been a level of public concern relating to BPA in baby bottles and, as such, has worked extensively with retailers to introduce the phase out.”
By comparison, the New Zealand response from the office of the Minister of Health, Tony Ryall is, “This is not a health issue. This is consumer affairs.” He then declined to comment further.
The ministry position is endorsed by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, where a spokesperson said that the Australian decision was purely a commercial one driven by public opinion. The NZFSA position on BPA is “unchanged”.
The Australian government reached a voluntary agreement with manufacturers of baby food packaging and came to an agreement for voluntary phasing out of the material.
Earlier this week an open letter by 60 leading scientists and NGOs called for the elimination of ‘toxic’ BPA from the food chain because of ‘overwhelming’ evidence from independent research that the risk to human health is unreasonably high.
Katherine Rich, of the Food and Grocery Council, told foodnews, “Our members have been phasing out the use of BPA in baby bottles over the last few years and all are already offering BPA-free products.
“We agree with the stance of NZFSA and FSANZ that this is not a public safety issue, but we do recognise that this is a consumer concern and we have reacted to that. Our members are sensitive to what their customers want,” she added.
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