Baby bottle retailers to play it safe

Potential cancer causing baby bottles and baby food containers will be phased out despite food authorities saying they are safe.

The major importers of baby bottle brands which include Avent, Nuby, Tommee Tippee and Watties Baby Basics are not restocking products that contain Bisphenol (BPA), a chemical linked to cancers.

Heinz Watties is also moving to BPA-free packaging for baby food products. Canned baby food is its first priority.

BPA is put into some clear and hard plastics to make them tougher.

In April, the Herald on Sunday revealed Auckland University's Liggins Institute had advised a Ministry of Health sub-committee to ban BPA.

Professor Murray Mitchell said research had linked BPA to some cancers, hyperactivity and other health issues.

Several countries had banned it and New Zealand should follow suit, he said.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority maintains there were such low levels of BPA in products here that they were safe.

Heinz Watties spokesman Paddy O'Brien said while the company believed there was no risk, they were "keen to allay any concern".

Caroline McIntosh from Jackel, which has Tommee Tippee and Closer to Nature under its umbrella, said they hoped to be BPA-free by February.