Europe’s top food safety authority has found that the compound BPA that is used in food and beverage cans worldwide is absolutely safe for consumers – debunking allegations that activists have been making for years.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) today stated that its latest evaluation of bisphenol A “concludes that BPA poses no health risk to consumers of any age group (including unborn children, infants and adolescents) at current exposure levels.” The finding follows that of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that BPA “is safe at the current levels occurring in foods.”

BPA is a coating that has been used in food and beverage cans for more than 50 years to prevent contamination and corrosion - and to keep what’s inside fresh. Scientists and government agencies worldwide have repeatedly concluded that the compound poses no health risk.

Yet activists have waged a campaign to ban BPA on allegations that it upsets the balance of sex hormones in the human body, even though there is “no actual evidence of adverse human health effects” from substances such as BPA, according to researchers who were published in Toxicology Letters in December 2013.

The EFSA reevaluated a previous finding in light of new research studies, some of which were being touted by activists as proof that BPA was unsafe.  EFSA found otherwise.

“To be as open and transparent as possible, EFSA thoroughly consulted and engaged with national authorities and stakeholders during this risk assessment to ensure that the widest possible range of scientific views and information were considered,” said Dr. Trine Husøy, a member of EFSA’s expert panel dealing with food contact materials and chairperson of the BPA working group.

The people who work in the beverage industry are proud of the products they make. For generations our companies have made beverages that people love and trust because they are delicious, refreshing and above all safe. America's beverage industry will always keep its commitment to using only those products and packages that meet or exceed all government health, safety and quality standards.