New Report on BPA (Bisphenol-A) in baby products from Z recommends--

The folks over at Z recommends have done their homework. They have an updated report on which companies are completely BPA (Bisphenol-A)free and company ratings relating to BPA usage in their products, ranging from Excellent, all the way down to Poor. Each company listed as a link to more information, with contact and website links.

I think the easiest thing to do it so evaluate your existing baby and kid gear using this report, and then if you buy anything new, buy from the BPA free companies if you can.

Here is the link. Thanks to Z recommends for all their hard work help parents keep BPA out of our kids.

If you are new to this issue, read this post to learn a little more about BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups. I would definitely use the Z recommends report as a guide for BPA in products, since it has been recently updated. I've written at least 10 articles that relate to BPA in plastic, infant formula, and the effects of it in our bodies. To learn more, visit the labels section of this blog, listed on the right side, and click on BPA.

Ways to take action about BPA:

Support reform to the Toxic Substances Control Act
Get BPA out of Baby Bottles


---so we don't have to keep up with the endless product and company research. BPA should be eliminated from all plastics that humans use.

Boston Globe article on BPA

Tell Corporations How you Feel about Recalled Toys and Product Safety (and reform the CPSC while we're at it)!

I recently discovered a fantastic non-profit group called Parents for Ethical Marketing. According to their website, PEM is...” is a new grassroots organization of parents and others concerned about corporate marketing practices directed at young children." They have some sobering statistics about the media and raising kids on their homepage, and they have an exciting opportunity for parents to give their feedback to companies who make, sell and market products to our children.

Apparently, PEM was contacted by a representative from Vision Conscious Brands, which represents corporations who are interested in having a positive social impact. They want to hear from parents about product safety, toy recalls, and other environmental, social and economic issues we are concerned about.

To read the call to action on PEM's website, click here. You'll see questions from Shari Aaron of Vision Conscious Brands, and at the bottom you can write your answers as comments on the blog, or email them at lisa (at) parentsforethicalmarketing.org.

Thanks to Parents for Ethical Marketing for this opportunity. I hope you will join me in adding your 2 cents.

And- I just noticed on their blog a way to take action in support of the CPSC reform act, from Consumer's Union. Click here.

Parents working together can change this world yet--

Take Action to Get Harmful Chemicals Out of Toys and Everyday Products for our Kids!

The great folks over at Healthytoys.org, that provided us with that helpful database of what toxins are in what toys (check it out here), are petitioning lawmakers to overhaul the ancient Toxic Substances Control Act. This act, when it was created 30 years, ago grandfathered the use of many dangerous chemicals into law. The European Union has already completed extensive research on many of these chemicals and is phasing out or banning usage in their products (hence the "EU compliant" label many organic and natural labeled prodcuts carry). This act desperately needs an update and the chemical industry (along with their lobbyists and cash) will fight this tooth and nail. Add your voice to the petition so lawmakers can hear from concerned parents who want companies and toy makers to stop adding harmful chemicals to products we use everyday.

Sign the petition here, and thanks to Healthytoys.org.

Worried about the Meat Recall in your Child's School?

After my last post I was thinking about how I would be feeling if I had school age children who might have eaten some of the recalled meat (described first in this post, and then again in yesterday's post below). I do know from reading the articles that thankfully no one has been sickened yet (that we know of) by the possibly tainted meat. I would want to know if in the very least, the meat has been seperated and set aside, out of the risk of consumpution by children.

One Vermont paper contacted a few schools to see what they are doing about the recalled meat, and it was encouraging to read that one school had set the recalled meat aside after the investigation by the USDA was launched two weeks ago. All the groups they contacted had taken the meat out of use. If you are a Vermont reader, you can find that story here. If you live in another state and are concerned, I would try reading your local papers to see if they ran a story like ours did. A more simple solution would be to call your child's school, and ask if the recalled meat has been removed from the food supply. Most likely, it has, and this will just reassure you.

If you know of more information about this that would be helpful to readers, please post it here.

Meat Recall: Update to Unsafe Practices at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Plant--

The unsafe (and cruel) practices discovered by the Humane Society and described in this post have led to the recall of 143 million pounds of beef, much of it sent to school lunch programs. See this article from the Seattle Times.

Apparently, the meat was not available to consumers at grocery stores. It was sold to schools through the federal school lunch program and was purchased by some fast food stores, including Jack in the Box and In-N-Out burger. Both of these restaurants said they stopped using the meat earlier this month when they heard of the problems at the meat packing plant. Unfortunately, many news outlets are reporting that much of the meat has already been eaten by children nationwide in the school lunch program, but thankfully there have been no reported illnesses from the consumption of this meat. The beef was recalled by the USDA as a precautionary measure due to the unsafe practices discovered at the plant.

Here is an abc news report about the situation, and here is the Humane Society's response to the recall.

Hopefully, word of this recall will reach all of our nation's schools so no more of the recalled meat will be eaten by our kids. Spread the word!