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Bisphenol A fears boost bag-in-box sales
Concern over Bisphenol A (BPA) in plastics is driving growth in the bag-in-box market as companies look for alternatives to the traditional plastic bottle, a leading bag-in-box manufacturer has claimed.
Bag-in-box specialist Rapak, part of DS Smith, said that demand from the water market has continued to grow the sector, driven in part by concern over BPA, which is thought to be a contributor to heart disease and diabetes.
European sales and marketing director Jean-Paul Roosendaal said Rapak can "guarantee" that its bags do not contain Bisphenol A.
He said: "It is clear that although the case against Bisphenol A is far from proved, many food and drink manufacturers prefer not to take the risk with their packaging."
PET bottles, which are often used for water, do not contain Bisphenol A.
British Plastic Federation senior executive of public affairs Anthony Roberts said he was not aware of any wider trend towards the specification of packaging that do not use Bisphenol A in their manufacture.
He said that the avoidance of BPA on the basis of health concerns "flies in the face of a large body of scientific evidence, which has shown the use of BPA in consumer products to be entirely safe".
Roberts also highlighted that in July last year the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and other worldwide regulatory bodies confirmed that BPA is safe to use for its intended uses and "poses no known risks to human health".
