The grocery chain Kroger announced that it would ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging and receipts — even though there is no evidence that BPA in those products has ever harmed anyone and there is no evidence that BPA substitutes are safer.
Kroger’s move wasn’t based on science but alleged consumer concern. A spokesman said, :
The bottom line is if it makes customers happy to have BPA removed from the products they buy, then Kroger is doing what it can to make customers happy. This stuff could be perfectly safe, but if the customers think it’s not, then Kroger is making this move to keep them happy.
There was no word from Kroger as to whether it would also be banning products that actually do sicken and/or kill some people.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food allergies cause 30,000 cases of anaphylaxis, 2,000 hospitalizations, and 150 deaths annually. There are eight foods that account for 90% of all food-allergy reactions cow’s milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts (for example, walnuts, pecans, almonds, and cashews), fish, shellfish, soybeans, and wheat, according to the CDC.
What do you think would have been a better course for Kroger to take?
Has there been any research to determine if BPA is dangerous? Too often, what is researched is controlled by groups who tend to benefit from selling rhe substsnce in question. What is the basis of the customers’ concerns–just imaginary? How much research, if any, has been done to determine if BPA is safe?