FDA to miss third deadline on BPA ruling

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will miss its third self-imposed deadline on letting consumers know whether it is safe to use products made with bisphenol A, a chemical ingredient in the lining of most food and beverage cans. FDA spokesman Michael Herndon said Tuesday the agency would not be making a decision before the end of the year, a pledge it made when it missed its Nov. 30 deadline. The repeated delays have angered health advocates who consider the chemical a threat to human health. "I'm extremely frustrated by the FDA delay, and I'm even more frustrated by their silence about the delay," said Janet Nudelman, policy director at the Breast Cancer Fund. "Each day it further delays taking action, more newborn babies, children and pregnant women are left unprotected from this hormone-disrupting compound linked to breast cancer and birth defects." Alex Formuzis, spokesman at the Environmental Working Group, a health advocacy organization that has conducted several tests to measure consumer exposure to BPA, said evidence of the chemical's risks is "overwhelming."