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Now that almost every baby bottle manufacturer in the country has already voluntarily stopped using toxic bisphenol A (BPA) in its product formulations, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finally gotten around to issuing a formal ban on the chemical from baby bottles and children’s drinking cups. But this ban means very little, as many manufacturers have already begun substituting bisphenol S (BPS), a potentially more deadly plastics chemical, in many BPA-free products, including children’s products.

Prompted by widespread consumer outrage over BPA’s use in children’s products despite its proven toxicity, the FDA reluctantly issued its basically useless ban, claiming that the decision “simply codifie[s] what the industry was already doing based on the preference of consumers,” to borrow the words of New York Times (NYT) writer Sabrina Tavernise. The FDA, in other words, is trying to assert its (ir)relevance in the matter after the fact, even though the people have already made the decision with their wallets.

Humorously, the FDA, while issuing its ban, made a point of reiterating its position that BPA is still safe, and that the ban has nothing to do with BPA’s safety. FDA Deputy Commissioner Michael Taylor, former Monsanto lawyer-turned Vice President of Public Relations, stated publicly that his agency “continue[s] to support [BPA’s] safe use,” this after the agency stated in 2010 that it had concerns about the effects of BPA on “brain, behavior and prostate gland[s] of fetuses, infants and children.”

Fortunately, the FDA’s dubious position on BPA reaffirms that the agency has no clue what it is talking about, and does not take actual science seriously. The FDA has long been in bed with the chemical industry, and its refusal to admit that BPA is toxic, especially to children, will eventually become the agency’s demise.