Britain's government may be looking at a ban on bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging after it was outlawed in France.
The French assembly said this week that printed labels will not be attached to any packaging containing BPA by 2014, while warning stickers will be used on foodstuffs already containing it, Food Production Daily reports.
However, Plastics Europe has warned that the ban could cause inconsistency in consumer safety decisions.
Spokesperson Jasmin Bird told the news provider: "If potential new safety laws are no longer based upon the weight of sound scientific evidence, industry and consumers alike can no longer rely on the existing legal and political framework."
In September 2010, the European Food Safety Authority said that BPA is safe for food contact applications.
However, it was recently banned in California for use in babies' bottles, while a University of Alabama study suggested it could be linked to breast cancer.
Denny Bros Ltd, 14 October 2011
