Advocacy Groups Urge FDA to Ban Food Additive Use of BPA

Several advocacy groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund, Consumer Reports and Environmental Working Group, have filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “requesting that the agency remove its approvals of the use of bisphenol A [BPA] . . . because recently published scientific studies show that the exposure from those food additive uses is not safe.” The groups cite a reevaluation of BPA effects conducted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and published in December 2021 that “unanimously concluded that ‘there is a health concern from dietary BPA exposure for all age
groups.'”

“Given the magnitude of the overexposure, we request an expedited review by FDA of the food additive petition because the proposed amendments to the agency’s rule are intended to significantly increase the safety of the food supply,” the petition asserts. “Not only will it dramatically decrease exposure to a toxin – BPA – in food that undermines the proper functioning of the immune and reproductive systems, but it will allow the immune system to more successfully respond to exposure to human pathogens in or on food.”