NCC Statement on Recent FDA decision on BPA

As people of faith, we are called to protect and value life on Earth and ensure a healthy, safe world for children.

The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to allow bisphenol-a (BPA) to continue to be used in baby bottles, sippy cups, infant formula cans, and food cans in the face of numerous studies that link BPA exposures at low-doses to prevalent health concerns such as cancer, early puberty in girls, and type II diabetes is a violation of our call as Christians to protect the health of God’s children, low-income communities, and all life on Earth.

In the hard economic times, more families prepare meals with canned food and a recent study from Boston University School of Public Health used data from the National Institute of Health and found that low-income communities who receive emergency food assistance have higher levels of BPA in their bodies. People living in poverty should not be unduly exposed to BPA or any chemical with mounting evidence of harm to people and God’s Creation.

As 11 states, Canada, France, Denmark, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and the EU Commission pass stringent restrictions on this chemical, and the chemical industry and product manufacturers move forward to replace BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups, and aluminum cans, the FDA falls short of guaranteeing a healthy future for all God’s children in the United States.