Canners feeling the heat on BPA

This week’s biggest environmental health news was the revelation that the canning industry trade group, the chemical industry and others met at a swanky Washington, D.C. club to discuss how to use “fear tactics” to hold the line against a series of legislative and market setbacks, which limit the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in consumer products.  

A memo leaked from the meeting indicated attendees  included the American Chemistry Council, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the lesser-known North American Metal Packaging Alliance (NAMPA). After the story broke, NAMPA issued a statement claiming the memo was "inaccurate and fabricated." But they hired a crisis consultant firm anyway.

What is NAMPA and what does it have to do with BPA?

NAMPA is the trade association for companies that use and manufacture BPA, including Coca-Cola, DelMonte, Heinz, Dow Chemical, Hexion Specialty Chemicals and others. Members of NAMPA have lobbied against BPA legislation in states considering bans, including Connecticut and New York.

NAMPA is also on the record opposing federal legislation to regulate BPA in food and beverage containers introduced by Edward Markey (D-MA). In a statement, NAMPA charged that the Markey bill:

“would have the effect of threatening the safety of the world's food supply and putting at risk the ability of all nations to feed their people.”

The statement went on to say that “NAMPA strongly supports the use of sound science rather than unsubstantiated fear in the formulation of public policy.’

But apparently they’re getting comfortable with the idea of using fear to create public policy.

According to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, attendees at the industry PR strategy meeting explicitly discussed using fear tactics to keep BPA in consumer products “such as asking consumers, ‘Do you want to have access to baby food anymore?’"

Meeting notes also revealed that they were interested in “befriending people that are able to manipulate the legislative process.”

That particular doozy culminated in a letter to NAMPA’s chairman, John Rost, from Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Waxman and Stupak, who have subpoena powers, demanded NAMPA provide more information about the meeting, including notes and an attendance list. 

What would have happened if NAMPA had decided it was time for the canning industry to go BPA-free instead of taking a page from the tobacco industry's playbook for delay and denial? 

We bet they'd be feeling a whole lot less heat.