UPDATE: Bye Bye BPA: WHICH Bottles Will Go Bisphenol Free
Checking for the BPA-free label when shopping for baby bottles may soon be a thing of the past. The six largest manufacturers of bottles in the United States have voluntarily agreed to go Bisphenol-A free.
We reported on this story over the weekend (see below), but thanks to our friends at SuperEco, we now have a list of who’s involved in the manufacturer cave in.
Going toxin free are Gerber, Avent America (which stopped production back in December), Evenflo, Disney’s First Years, Dr. Brown and Playtex.
Attorneys general in Connecticut and New Jersey put forward a request to the bottle makers, asking for the hormone-disrupting chemical to be removed from the manufacturing process. The request came on the heels of newer research that shows the affects of BPA are large even at low doses, doses lower than the FDA’s current standards. Studies have linked BPA to everything from cancer and obesity to problems with brain function and mood disorders. They’ve also shown BPA is building up in the bloodstream. In a study of people age six and older, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found detectable
levels of BPA in ninety-three percent of two thousand five hundred seventeen urine samples.
Of course, the big companies aren’t exactly doing this all out of the goodness of their hearts. Babies R Us and a number of other retailers announced last year that they would phase out all sales of bottles with BPA in them. Canada has outright banned the substance.
But sometimes even the big companies make decisions that are good for parents.
Image: OhMyGov
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Sorry, I meant “the main culprits in leeching are heat and time.”
@Angus – during the canning process, the canned food gets heated at a very high temperature – much higher than a baby bottle would ever see. Then it gets stored in the can for a relatively long period of time.
Yes, the main culprits in leeching is heat and time. (Acidity and fat content also help.) That is why canned food can leech much more BPA than a baby bottle.
The main concern with BPA is with heating. Like when people heat a baby bottle. That is when the leaching occurs.
I don’t really know many people who heat and eat canned food directly out of the can.
@Anonymous2, all commercially canned foods have a BPA liner (except certain ones from Eden Foods, and I think a couple of small producers, if the can says “BPA free”). You can’t see it. Some canned foods leech more BPA, for various reasons. For example, since fat will increase how much gets leeched out, tuna packed in water will have less BPA than tuna packed in oil.
http://www.ewg.org/reports/bisphenola
I’m really not trying to scare anyone, just trying to put things in perspective.
I don’t believe that canned tuna usually has bpa lining the can. I think the concern is with canned foods that have a white liner inside the can (like canned tomatoes).
Thanks to Babies R Us that they would phase out all sales of bottles with BPA.
If you have bottles which have BPA will the manufacturers replace them??
Bunny, you can buy tuna in pouches. We don’t eat tuna, so I am not sure of the price difference or whether the pouch is or isn’t safe. We generally try to avoid canned food (at least partially b/c of taste problems), but we do occasionally eat canned soup. Homemade soup does freeze really well, though, so we have that a lot too.
Bariany: There hasn’t been an exact date set, that’s why you haven’t seen anything. Philips Avent, for one, stopped Dec. 31.
I keep seeing references to this ban – but nobody’s saying when the ban takes effect. Is it this year? Next year?
Is it possible to buy tuna that isn’t in cans? I don’t know that I could give up tuna. Or canned soup.
Gpgirl: Yet another reason to stay away from icky canned veggies!
I just wanted to point out that most of our exposure to BPA comes from canned foods. These cans have a BPA liner. The food is heated at very high temperatures in the cans, and then stored for long periods of time. I’m not saying it is a bad thing to get BPA out of baby bottles, but people need to know to be careful to give their kids canned foods if they are concerned with BPA.
Also, yes there were studies showing high levels of BPA being linked to obesity, heart disease, etc. However, people who have the highest levels of BPA also must eat the highest amount of canned foods, which are extremely unhealthy to begin with, and can cause these diseases.
I know this is slightly off-topic, but I am constantly amazed at how many people I know who get rid of bottles with BPA but still eat plenty of canned foods.