Bad Grades Given to Food Companies
Fourteen of the largest public packaged food companies still use Bisphenol A (BPA) in their packaging despite studies linking BPA to developmental problems, cancer, heart disease and diabetes, according to a scorecard (PDF) released on April 21st, 2009 by shareholder groups.
Seven companies got a grade of “F”, including Campbell, Coca-Cola, Kraft, Hershey and Del Monte because they are not taking any action to protect consumers from BPA in their can linings or other packaging.
In fact, no food or beverage company got better than a “C”.
To prepare the scorecard, Seeking Safer Packaging: Ranking Packaged Food Companies on BPA (PDF), Green Century Capital Management and As You Sow asked twenty of the largest public packaged food companies to identify the actions they are taking to address concerns regarding BPA.
Fourteen of the companies replied and the scorecard is based on their responses. The scorecard ranks the companies on three factors:
1) efforts to find and implement alternatives to BPA
2) plans to phase out BPA in products for which alternatives exist, and
3) transparency on the issue.
There were no flying colors in this report card as the highest grade was only a “C”. The companies that received the highest scores were Hain Celestial (C), Heinz (C-), and Nestlé (D+) because they are all involved in researching and testing alternatives to BPA. They also have plans to phase out the chemical in some of their products. Heinz, also stood out because it was the only company surveyed that is currently using an alternative to BPA in some of its can linings.
The seven companies who responded to the survey who got an “F” because they are not taking steps to replace BPA are: Campbell, Coca-Cola, McCormick & Company, Kraft, Hershey, J. M. Smucker, and Del Monte. Six more companies did not respond to the survey, and thus also got an “F”: Chiquita, Dean Foods, Hormel, Sara Lee, SYSCO and Unilever.
There is only one company in the U.S., Eden Foods, that has sold all of its products (except tomatoes, which present special problems because of their acidity) in cans free of BPA. Alternative packaging materials exist for many products.
The pressure from consumers, public officials, and the media to phase out BPA has pushed six of the largest manufacturers of baby bottles in the U.S., Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, and Whole Foods, to voluntarily eliminate BPA. However, the continued use of BPA in can linings, where alternatives are available is still occurring and poses potential risks to companies and shareholders. Not one of the companies surveyed stands out as a clear leader in addressing the risks of BPA or presented a clear plan for phasing out BPA from all applications for which alternatives exist.
