Remember BPA? It wasn't long ago that people were all up in arms about it: Bisphenol-A, found in plastics like polycarbonate baby bottles, has been found to cause all sorts of bad stuff that you want your baby to avoid, so much so that you're now using glass bottles or expensiver BPA-free bottles, right? Too bad what's going in them, namely canned ready-to-feed baby formula, ALSO contains BPA.

Screwed by the FDA, the BPA-baby way!

Yes, a non-profit advocacy and research organization called the Environmental Working Group has conducted tests of several leading-name canned baby formulas (concentrated and "straight" versions) and has found them to contain BPA. (Their report, released yesterday, can be found here.) But when confronted with this information, the FDA claims yes, it's true that the inner coating on the cans contains BPA, but that it's at levels considered "safe."

So why am I uncomfortable with this? After all, there seems little disagreement that the BPA in the bottles was potentially harmful, so why would it suddenly be safe in cans? So, cancer-causing nasty chemicals are bad, but a little is okay? And who decides how much is okay? After all, there haven't been a lot of trials on humans up to this point. Anyone want to donate their baby for experimental purposes? No? I thought not.

There are going to be people who helpfully suggest, "You could always go back in time and breastfeed instead of giving your baby formula!" so I'll just clear that one away now, m'kay?

So, breastfeeding people, play nice.

And formula people, you might want to look into other-than-canned formula. And if you're one of those who fed your kid canned formula, take a deep breath, hug your kid, and remember that we're all exposed to cancer-causing agents practically all the time, and sometimes we can only rely on the information we have. So no kicking yourself, 'kay?

Photo: thedoctorcooks.com