ADDENDUM - CONSUMER WARNING: BPA

The Organic Consumers Association in their Early 2007 Organic Bytes email newsletter recommended avoiding SIGG water bottles because of the BPA contamination. They took a big Hit when SIGG claimed their bottles didn't have BPA in them. Read the comments below to see how they responded.

TODAY, 10/1/09 - Organic Bytes published startling news.

Original Post:

In case you aren't on this email list:

TOXIC CHEMICAL BPA LEACHING INTO CANNED FOODS
An alarming new study from the Environmental Working Group analyzed samples of canned fruit, vegetables, soda, and baby formula on sale in the nation's supermarkets and found that more than 50% were tainted with a chemical linked to birth defects, ADHD and cancer. The chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), is an ingredient in plastics that lines food cans. According to the study, the chemical has been leaching into foods at levels up to 200 times the government's recommended "safe" level of exposure. According to Dr. Frederick vom Saal, a professor of biology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a long-time expert researcher of BPA, there are 94 scientific studies indicating deleterious health effects from BPA. "If BPA was treated as a drug, it would have been pulled immediately. This chemical can be replaced right now by safer materials, and the public would never notice the difference." OCA is planning to launch a campaign later this year to pressure food companies, especially organic companies, to stop using BPA-tainted cans and other toxic or non-sustainable packaging.
Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4414.cfm

HEALTH TIP OF THE WEEK:
HOW TO AVOID BPA

• Metal canned beverages appear to contain less BPA residues, while metal canned pasta and soups contain the highest levels.
• Canned foods in glass containers are not a BPA risk.
• Plastics with the recycling labels #1, #2 and #4 on the bottom are safer choices and do not contain BPA.
• One-third of liquid baby formulas have high levels of BPA. Powdered formula packaging is generally considered safer.
• Avoid heating foods in plastic containers and do not wash plastic containers in a dishwasher.
• When possible, opt for glass, porcelain and stainless steel containers, particularly for hot food or liquids.
• Do not let plastic wrap touch your food in the microwave, or better yet, avoid microwave ovens altogether.
• Many metal water bottles, . . .  are lined with a plastic coating that contains BPA. Look for stainless steel bottles, such as those sold by Real Wear and Kleen Kanteen that do not have a plastic liner.

Please forward this publication to family and friends, place it on websites, print it, duplicate it and post it freely. Knowledge is power!
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Subscribe: http://www.organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.htm

TODAY, 10/1/09 - Organic Bytes published this startling news:

Sigg, the maker of a hip and supposedly bisphenol A -free aluminum water bottle, recently confessed that the liners of their bottles made before August of 2008 actually do contain bisphenol A (BPA).

What's really weird about this is that back in early 2007 when the dangers of BPA began getting a lot of media coverage, OCA put out some info in our newsletter, Organic Bytes, about BPA and what water bottle brands we recommended and which to avoid (if you click the link above to see OB #104 you won't find this info, because we removed it, at Sigg's request, see next paragraph). Sigg was one of the ones we recommended avoiding, based on the information we had gotten from the Environmental Working Group.

Almost immediately we got jumped on by Sigg, saying that they had changed their liner to be BPA-free. So we issued a letter of apology and a retraction in our next newsletter, saying, in effect, "Oops, sorry, Sigg bottles are safe." We have over 250,000 subscribers to our newsletter, so a lot of people, OCA members who rely on us to provide them with accurate information and product recommendations, read that and probably went out and bought Sigg bottles, thinking they were BPA-free. And apparently, OCA wasn't the only group to issue such a disclaimer. So Sigg made a bundle, not just off of OCA members, but many, many others who rely on groups like OCA and the EWG to let them know if a product is safe or not.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Steve Wasik, the President of Sigg, then released a letter that quoted OCA's retraction. This letter circulated far and wide on the web, reaching even more people. Now that it has become public that Sigg's bottles did contain BPA at the time, and that Steve Wasik knew this when he published the letter, OCA feels that Sigg was using the OCA's disclaimer to give their product an undeserved air of legitimacy. Sigg knew OCA's retraction was false, but they publicized it anyway, in an effort to sell more of their water bottles!

This is pretty despicable stuff. We all expect better from supposedly eco-friendly businesses. Let this be OCA's "retraction of our retraction."