Baby Development – EU Food Safety Body Takes a New Look at Baby Bottle Safety

By Colleen Hurley, RD, Certified Kid’s Nutrition Specialist

The baby bottle safety debate rages on.  Just a few short weeks ago, Canada banned import and sales of baby bottles containing bisphenol A (BPA) along with Wal-Mart and Toys ‘R’ Us promising to pull the potentially harmful baby bottles from store shelves.  The European Union (EU) announced it too, will be revisiting the research.

The EU’s watchdog group the European Food Safety Authority  (EFSA) announced it is aware of the current research on BPA and is deciding whether or not to re-state their previous position statement on the chemical which was dated January 2007.   Located in Parma, Italy, the EFSA is expected to reach a decision soon.

Following Canada’s ban on BPA sales and imports, the EFSA may also follow suit despite the fact it had previously deemed small amounts of BPA in plastics as safe for consumers.  US government reports found BPA to be potentially harmful to both reproductive and nervous systems.  The EFSA’s January risk assessment found that an average daily intake of .05 milligrams of BPA per kilogram of body weight to not pose a health risk, adding that this amount was significantly larger than what an infant would consume on a daily basis.   

Despite global concern, Singapore  maintains plastic baby bottles are safe and urges stores to continue selling the bottles.  Even though the US based National Institute of Health warned BPA could affect brain development in infants and increase their risk of developing breast and prostate cancer later in life, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Association (AVA) found that the BPA in plastic baby bottles was within safe limits.

Several researchers are claiming BPA is ubiquitous throughout the food supply and that plastic bottles are bearing an unfair brunt of responsibility.  Many parents and environmental groups alike feel consumers should have the right to choose products containing BPA or those without.  The National Childbirth Trust wants all bottles in the UK clearly labeled if they contain BPA, yet the government states they are safe for infant use and that labeling would be unnecessary.  One of the largest charities in the world supporting parents, families, and infants; the National Childbirth Trust advises parents not to pour boiling hot liquids into the bottles as well as discarding them when they become scratched or damaged.