FDA sued over lack of action on BPA

A leading environmental group has sued the Food and Drug Administration for dragging its feet on its request 20 months ago to ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA), a toxic chemical, in food packaging.

The Natural Resources Defense Council filed the lawsuit in a federal appeals court after giving the FDA almost two years to act on a citizen petition the group submitted in October 2008. The agency's silence may be partly due to the ubiquitous use of BPA by food and beverage packagers, according to an NRDC spokeswoman.