Companies not doing enough to get BPA out of food packaging

Many leading packaged food companies use bisphenol A (BPA) in their packaging and are taking insufficient steps to move toward alternatives. Popular brands such as Heinz, Nestlé, General Mills, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola all sell food and beverages packaged in BPA lined cans, according to a scorecard released this week.

There were no flying colors in this report card as the highest grade was only a "C." Hain Celestial, Heinz, and Nestlé got the highest scores because they are involved in researching and testing alternatives to BPA and have plans to phase out the chemical in some of their products. Heinz is the only company surveyed that is currently using an alternative to BPA in some of its can linings.

Eden Foods sells its foods, with the exception of tomatoes, in BPA free cans.

The authors of Seeking Safer Packaging: Ranking Packaged Food Companies on BPA (download a PDF of the report here) sent letters to 20 companies in the packaged food industry to identify the actions the companies are taking to address concerns regarding BPA.

Members of the SAFER coalition are pushing for regulation of BPA across the country. Clean Water Action in Massachusetts is supporting a statewide ban of BPA in products intended for children age 3 and under.

"Unfortunately at this point, it's really hard to avoid this chemical because it's found in so many consumer products," said Namasha Schelling, of Clean Water Action.

BPA, found in products from baby bottles to canned goods, has been linked to breast and prostate cancer.

"It needs to be regulated. We can't just let companies put out any product they want. It needs to be regulated by the government," Schelling said.

The reality is that canned infant formula, sodas, soups, and more foods contain BPA. Testing of infant formula has found the potent hormone disrupter in the formula, causing danger to vulnerable developing babies.

The Seeking Safer Packaging report encourages companies to take proactive steps to phase out BPA as public opinion continues to turn against the toxic chemical.

Environmental and public health advocates have organized campaigns to eliminate the most worrisome exposures to BPA and a growing number of public officials are taking up their cause. Given the current scientific evidence of BPA’s impact on health and increasing concern from both consumers and policymakers, the chemical will continue to be a growing risk to companies within the packaged food industry.

This is not a problem that consumers can shop their way out of because, when it comes to buying packaged food, in many cases there are no BPA-free choices. As the report shows, companies are not working to provide us with alternatives to BPA.