Be Free...BPA-Free!!

I don't know about you but I haven't always had the best faith in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Nowadays every new pill out there or diet fad can be "FDA approved" and that just doesn’t carry the same weight as it used to.


However, the FDA finally stepped up (somewhat) on cautioning the public that BPA or Bisphenol A - an industrial chemical used to make plastic hard and is found in baby bottles- might not be safe for young children after all.

The FDA's stance is a reversal from its previous thought that the chemical was safe at levels currently found in food containers. BPA is found in bottles, CD's and bike helmets and has been used to make products for some 50 years including containers that hold baby formula.

The "FDA is supporting reasonable steps to reduce human exposure to BPA including actions by industry and recommendations to consumers on food preparation," the report said.

However, the agency didn't go so far as to ban products that contain BPA, including some kinds of infant formula. Plastic containers that contain BPA are usually marked with the number 7 on the bottom.

The main concern of the report is a baby formula that is a liquid premix and packaged in cans. Similac-brand formula is said to be 91% BPA-free and the company is working on the other 9%. Enfamil uses BPA-free packaging for its powered formula but said a replacement for the liquid formula is a bigger challenge, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal.

According to http://www.bisphenolafree.org/, BPA is a hormone-disrupting chemical considered to be potentially harmful to human health and the environment. It has been known that scratched and worn polycarbonate feeding bottles will leach this chemical into liquids.

So be safe and not thrifty when it comes to your babies and yourself!

Drinking water from plastic bottles made with the toxic chemical BPA increases urinary levels of the chemical by nearly 70 percent, according to a study conducted by researchers from Harvard University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What can you do? Stop drinking from plastic bottles. Try one of these. They are safe and better for the environment.

As for your baby...there are many options of BPA-free products from bottles to food cookers, etc. This link can help you out further.