EFSA announces BPA re-evaluation
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has started work on its new risk assessment of bisphenol A (BPA) used in food contact materials, focusing in particular, it says, on exposure of vulnerable groups.
The new opinion will complement earlier scientific advice provided at the request of the European Commission.
EFSA will review all the available data and scientific studies on dietary exposure published since its 2006 opinion on BPA and also take into consideration the contribution of non-dietary sources to overall exposure to BPA.
“Experts on EFSA’s Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF) will further evaluate uncertainties about the possible relevance to human health of some BPA-related effects observed in rodents at low dose levels,” says an EFSA spokesman. “New findings from ongoing studies on low dose effects as well as on dietary and non-dietary exposure to BPA will be considered as they become available during 2012.”
