Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: BPA

  • Researchers Find BPA in Cash Register Receipt Paper

    Two recently released studies have purportedly found high concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA) in the thermal paper used by many retailers to print cash register receipts. Researchers with the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry in Massachusetts tested 10 blank cash register receipts from Boston-area businesses and found some had BPA concentrations as high as…

  • Democrats Wrangle over Fate of Food Safety Bill

    Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.) recently sent a public letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), blaming her pursuit of a bisphenol A (BPA) ban for stalling the Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510). Feinstein has apparently sought to include “controversial language” in the bill that would prohibit BPA in food and beverage packaging. According to Dingell,…

  • NRDC Continues Challenge to BPA in Contact/Packaging Materials

    As part of its ongoing campaign to persuade government authorities to prohibit the use of bisphenol A (BPA), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recently filed a lawsuit in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to force the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action on a petition the organization filed in October 2008…

  • Scientists Urge EFSA Action Regarding BPA Reduction

    Several environmental, health and women’s organizations have called on the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to consider “all relevant studies” on bisphenol A (BPA) as the safety watchdog prepares to present its opinion on the chemical next month. Signed by approximately 20 scientific experts and 40 non-governmental organizations, the June 23, 2010, letter states that…

  • MDL Court Limits Discovery in BPA Plastic Products Litigation

    The multidistrict litigation (MDL) court before which cases alleging a failure to disclose the possible harmful effects of plastic bottles containing bisphenol A (BPA) have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings has granted in part and denied in part the plaintiffs’ discovery motion. In re: Bisphenol-A (BPA) Polycarbonate Plastic Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 1967 (W.D. Mo., order…

  • Health Canada Says BPA in Canned Foods Poses No Risk; Germany Advises Manufacturers to Find Alternatives

    Health Canada’s Bureau of Chemical Safety has released a survey of bisphenol A (BPA) in canned foods that finds low rates of exposure and no risk to public health. Researchers apparently examined samples from 78 domestic and imported canned food products, including pastas, soups, tomato paste, tuna and vegetables. The results indicated that canned tuna…

  • Jerome Groopman, “The Plastic Panic,” The New Yorker, May 31, 2010

    “Bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA, may be among the world’s most vilified chemicals,” opens this May 31, 2010, New Yorker article that positions the present-day furor in the long and often convoluted history of toxicology. According to author Jerome Groopman, scientists cannot agree whether BPA is a cautionary tale against overstating risks or understating…

  • NGO Coalition Tests Canned Foods, Allegedly Finds BPA at Levels Linked to Health Effects in Lab Animals

    A coalition of public interest organizations has issued a report, “No Silver Lining, An Investigation into Bisphenol A in Canned Foods,” that purportedly detected levels of the chemical in more than 90 percent of the cans from consumers’ shelves that were tested. While the highest levels of BPA, at 1,140 parts per billion (ppb), were…