european plastics news staffposted 22 january 2015following the european food safety authority efsa concluding there is no health risk to consumers of any age group from current exposure levels to bisphenol a bpa, associations around the world have come forward to support its findings.europe&rsquos plastics industry dismissed a french government report into alternatives to bpa in december. bpa has now been banned in all food packaging across the country, france had banned the use of bpa in products such as feeding bottles for babies four years ago.plasticseurope&rsquos pcbpa group has stated that following the efsa&rsquos conclusions the french restriction on bpa is disproportionate and should be withdrawn. &ldquothe fact that any realistic exposure to bpa is well below even the conservative safety threshold established by efsa shows that blanket restrictions being applied at national level, in particular in france, are unjustified and should be withdrawn,&rdquo says jasmin bird of the pcbpagroup.&ldquothis efsa conclusion on bpa should be used as the basis for consistent and harmonised european food safety regulation, and should be respected by all eu member states,&rdquo bird added.the british plastics federation bpf has said it fully supports the findings of the efsa review and its conclusions which provide an authoritative approval of the continued safe use of products produced using bpa.sarah plant, public and industrial affairs manager at the bpf said &ldquothe bisphenol a issue has become highly politicised in recent years and in some countries has become divorced from the reality and nature of its use. the efsa&rsquos ruling on the safety of bpa provides a solid endorsement which should set consumers&rsquo minds at ease.&rdquoin the us, industry experts have applauded the expansive nature of the european study and noted that the results back up last year&rsquos definitive position of the us food and drug administration fda that bpa is safe across the board.&ldquoefsa&rsquos overall conclusion is similar to recent statements from the us food and drug administration fda on the safety of bpa,&rdquo said steven hentges, of the american chemistry council&rsquos s polycarbonatebpa global group. &ldquogoing beyond previous assessments, efsa evaluated exposure to bpa not only from food, but also from a range of other potential sources.&rdquo&ldquomany other government bodies around the world have also evaluated the scientific evidence on bpa and have clearly stated that bpa is safe as used in food contact materials. similar to efsa&rsquos conclusion, fda responded to the question, &lsquois bpa safe&rsquo with one unambiguous word &lsquoyes.&rsquo supporting this clear conclusion is one of the largest studies ever conducted on bpa, which was published by fda researchers in 2014, and scientific documentation on numerous other studies that was recently released,&rdquo hentges said in a press release. 
