Babies R' Us Taking Back BPA Bottles

I was just over at Fina' Drea and she returned 5 Avent bottles to Babies R' Us today (and yes they were worn and old) and she got $25.00 for them! I am KICKING myself right now for throwing out all my old BPA bottles. I would love to take advantage of this and replace them with some BPA-free sippy cups for my little man.

Well maybe some of you will be able to take advantage of this GREAT opportunity. If you are not sure if your bottles contain BPA check out the Z-Report on BPA at ZRecommends; this is a very thorough listing of most if not all bottle companies. If you do take advantage of this leave a comment and let us know how it turned out :-)

Cuisinart Update

In response to last weeks post regarding Cuisinart and BPA, Michelle, a Cuisinart employee (who is not a scientist or in quality control), kindly provided this insight into the matter:

"Hi Jessica;

Sorry for the delay. I just had a lengthy conversation with QC so I could better understand the issues.We had a third party laboratory test the bowls for our Food Processors and Mini Choppers. These are sometimes made with Lexan and sometimes made with another plastic. Yes, BPA is in these plastics. However, the issue isn't whether BPA is actually in the plastic- but rather does it leach. In fact most tin cans, most hard plastic cups you would use at home (in fact any harder plastics will have BPA - it is what gives it the "hardness") would have BPA. But most will not have the leaching. And some will apparently leach the BPA more than others.

When the third party tests were done by the lab - they would have run the bowls through numerous tests - to determine amount of leaching and what they found was that none was detected. So in other words no leaching of BPA. In Canada, Health Canada is looking at setting parameters to levels of leaching - in which case obviously our bowls will be considered safe no matter what level they choose in the end as none was detected. We aren't sure at what level they will determine is safe...but obviously what is safe for infants is different than for adults. As far as the Cuisinart bowls - we are confident that these are 100% safe for you and your baby.

I hope that this helps you make a decision. I know as a mom I have found my food processor and mini-chopper indispensible! Michelle"

I have read and will personally consider the above comments. More importantly, I will continue to investigate this matter. I am specifically interested in who performed the third party testing and how the testing was conducted. I believe our children are worth the extra effort needed to make sure that the products we use are 100% safe.

BPA in Cuisinart Food Processors

I am very disappointed to report that the Cuisinart Mini Prep and the Cuisinart Food Processors are made with with Polycarbonate and therefore contain bisphenol-A. When I called Cuisinarts info line tonight at talked with one of their reps, he was very polite and wanted to be helpful, however all he could tell me is that they are awaiting further information from the FDA in regards to BPA.

Well, I guess I will be looking for something else to use when I am making my baby food. This is too bad because the food processors are perfect for the job. Hopefully Cuisinart will be making changes to their product line in the near future. I am also hoping that they will do something to replace parts that contain BPA. A girl can hope can't she.

Bisphenol-A is in the news again

Bisphenol-A has made the news again. Last week on the NBC Nightly News and then again on the Today Show. The heart of their recommendation is to avoid plastic types #3, #6, and #7 was, "We won't have enough data for years, but if you have a choice, why take a risk?"

Nalgene one of the staunch supporters of BPA launched their new website Nalgene Choice last week amist the negative BPA press. The new site features BPA-free bottles both to showcase two new lines, one plastic and the other stainless steel, as well as a variety of other specialized drinkware products made of a laundry list of BPA-free plastics - polyethylenes (HDPE, LDPE, PET) and even some polypropylene food storage containers. They however have not removed their origional Nalgene sport bottle which does contain BPA.

Then again Monday the Department of Health and Human Services' National Toxicology Program released it's study on BPA and noted that there is "Some Concern that babies and fetuses exposed to BPA could have higher risk of prostate and breast cancer and early onset puberty later in life." The report went on to say that, "The possibility that bisphenol-A may alter human development cannot be dismissed. For more information on this report check out Good Morning America's segment that they rain on BPA and the report this morning. This report has left some members of congress calling on the FDA to reconsider the safety of bisphenol-A

Just this week Canada became the first government to say that it considers BPA unsafe and many Canadian retailers have removed products containing BPA from their shelves. For more information read the full article from Globe and Mail.

"We won't have enough data for years, but if you have a choice, why take a risk?" I know that I am not willing to wait 20 years to find out whether or not bisphenol-A is safe or unsafe. For more information on BPA-free products check out the Z Report on BPA in Childrens Feeding Product, Third Edition.