The Ministry of Health’s Food Hygiene and Safety Department of Vietnam on December 17 announced that it has not found baby bottles containing bisphenol-A (BPA), which is a hormone-altering agent.
Earlier, the department had collected samples from baby bottles and food packing plastics for testing.
According to Nguyen Thanh Phong, deputy director of the Food Hygiene and Safety Department, BPA is an industrial chemical used in making plastics in most reusable food drink containers and baby bottles.
Vietnam authorities have detected a permissible bisphenol-A (BPA) level in the plastic bottles sold across the country.
Vietnam is applying the decision 46/2007/QĐ – BYT, which allows BPA to be at 2.5mg per kilogram of material.
A recent market survey in Vietnam showed that concerned parents in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are switching to bottles imported from Korea, England and Germany. These countries advertise that their bottles are ‘BPA free’. In addition, parents are also turning to glass bottles. Although heavier and more expensive, as compared to the plastic ones, glass bottles are probably much safer.
Nguyen Cong Khan, from the Ministry of Health, said that mothers should breastfeed their child as this can ensure better protection and enhance the immune system of the child.
In November, the European Community (EU) banned baby bottles containing the chemical BPA. This was due to fears that BPA might be harmful to the health of a child. The population of the EU is half a billion people.
The ban will see the manufacture of polycarbonate infant feeding bottles that have BPA, outlawed from March 1st 2011. In addition, from June 1st, 2011, the importation and sale of plastics bottles that contain BPA will be prohibited into the European Community.
