While some experts worry cola isn’t the best ingredient in a healthy lifestyle, Canadian federal Health Minister Tony Clement is setting his sights on the cans.
A few days after tabling the Canadian government’s $300-million plan for managing chemical substances over four years, Clement says soft-drink manufacturers and many other industries will now be forced to prove their products are not putting the health of Canadians at risk.
“The obligation is now with the industry to show that the chemicals can be used safely in a given setting, whether it’s an industrial setting or a household setting,” Clement said in an interview.
Bisphenol A is on a list of about 200 chemicals that must be tested in the coming months. The substance is commonly used to coat plastic bottles and cans.
Recent peer-reviewed studies have concluded it may also be a hormone disrupter that could cause cancer.
“The industry that produces soft-drink cans has to show that that particular chemical, which does have some dangerous qualities to it, does not seep from the can into the liquid that the can is holding,” Clement said.
Coca-Cola Canada coats cans with the substance to prolong the shelf life of its products, said David Moran, director of public affairs and communications at the soft-drink company. The company has always met safety standards based on the existing scientific evidence, he said.
“What we’re doing is following generally accepted international practices that have been scientifically provento be safe in other jurisdictions,” Moran said. “Having said that, we’re a Canadian company operating in Canada and we’ll follow whatever the Canadian government comes up with in terms of new regulations.”
Bisphenol A is normally be identified in products in North America by the tr