Heartland Institute Praises FDA’s BPA Ruling

Published March 30, 2012

In a long-awaited response to a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Food and Drug Administration today announced it will not ban the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) from food contact materials.

BPA is commonly used to make shatter-resistant plastics and to create epoxy linings. Common food-related uses include baby bottles that won’t break and linings that protect food from contamination. Previous research by FDA, the Environmental Protection Agency, and dozens of other agencies has found BPA to be safe.

The following statement from Eli Lehrer, vice president of The Heartland Institute – a free-market think tank – may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact Tammy Nash at [email protected] and 312/377-4000. After regular business hours, contact Jim Lakely at [email protected] and 312/731-9364.


“The FDA sometimes gets things right, and this is one of those times. There’s no decent scientific evidence that BPA causes harm to humans. We’ve wasted enough time already on this wild-goose chase. The FDA – and environmentalists – need to find something else to think about.”

Eli Lehrer
Vice President, DC Operations
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
202/615-0586


The Heartland Institute is a 28-year-old national nonprofit organization with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site or call 312/377-4000.