Battle Over BPA PR Notes

PR on the DL for BPA

This is The Environment Report. I’m Lester Graham.

BPA… bisphenol A is a chemical that’s used in some plastics used in bottles… and in the lining of nearly all food and beverage cans. Many studies have linked BPA to health problems, including birth defects of the male and female reproductive systems. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says BPA is safe.

The North American Metal Packaging Alliance, executives of food-packaging companies and lobbyists for the chemical makers met in Washington DC last week to come up with strategies to get their message out. They say the news media are not telling their side of the story. Someone took notes of that meeting… and then leaked them to the Washingon Post and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Lyndsey Layton reports for the Washington Post.

“According to these notes, they called it the ‘holy grail’ spokesperson would be a pregnant, young mother who would be willing to speak around the country about the benefits of BPA. And they also talked about possible –quote “fear tactics” close quote. They said, you know we could present this to the public as ‘Do you want to have access to baby food anymore?’ ”


The industry folks say that’s just not the way the meeting went down. John Rost is the Chairman of NAMPA -- the North American Metal Packaging Alliance.

JR: The meeting notes they had were not NAMPA meeting minutes and that they were fraudulent and it was communicated to both reporters that although some of the content was true, essentially that it misrepresented the meeting completely.

LG: Did you attend this meeting?
JR: I did attend, yes.
LG: Did you talk about finding the ‘holy grail’ of a spokesperson in a young, pregnant mother?
JR: Uh, no. In fact, what the discussion was around was ‘what are the tactics the activists groups are using against us?’ And one of those tactics are using young, pregnant women to testify in front of legislators. And, of course, we discussed that as an option and dismissed it and actually find it a little ironic that we are being criticized for even discussing an option that is now currently being used against us. So, there is some irony there.

LG: Did you discuss using fear tactics?
JR: No. Again, it goes back to what we said a second ago. We basically looked at the tactics that the activists groups are using against us and thought if they’re being used against us, would they have any purpose for us to use them? And basically dismissed that as we need to be a legitimate scientific organization.

The Washington Post reporter who got ahold of the notes from the meeting, Lindsey Layton says NAMPA folks are telling a different story than when she called them last week.

“That’s not what they were saying on Friday when I spoke to the Executive Director of the North American Metal Packaging Alliance, who confirmed the accuracy of those notes. So, today they’re saying something different. They’re saying this is not them. They don’t know where they came from. That’s a different tune than what they were saying Friday.”

Public relations campaign or not… every month or so a new study seems to bring more information to the debate about the safety of bishphenol A. Wal-Mart and other big retailers have removed baby products such as toys and bottles made with BPA from the shelf. And… the big concern for the food packaging industry is that more consumers will realize the chemical that’s causing all the fuss about bottles also lines the cans of the food they’re eating and feeding their children.

That’s The Environment Report. I’m Lester Graham.