Ingredient glossary
Use with cautionBisphenols (BPA, BPS, BPF)
What it is
Bisphenols are a family of chemicals used to make some plastics and resins. BPA was the one used in polycarbonate baby bottles, and BPS and BPF are related compounds sometimes used in its place.
Why it's flagged
In 2012 FDA stopped authorizing BPA-based polycarbonate resins for baby bottles and sippy cups because industry had abandoned the use, not because of a new FDA finding about exposure, and FDA's current position is that BPA is safe at the current levels occurring in foods for the currently approved uses. California now prohibits selling juvenile feeding, sucking and teething products with any bisphenol above a practical quantitation limit from January 1, 2026, with a 0.1 ppb limit for BPA, and the EU restricts BPA and other hazardous bisphenols in food-contact materials.
How concerned to be
"BPA-free" is true and narrow. It does not say anything about BPS or BPF, particles, siloxanes, metals, coatings, cleanability or the rest of the fluid path, and it is not a whole-product safety finding. Modern polypropylene and Tritan are not bisphenol-based, but PPSU is formally composed of bisphenol S and 4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl, so BPS chemistry is not irrelevant to it. A 2018 study did not detect BPS above 0.3 mg/kg of polymer in five PPSU baby-bottle types.
What it's called on a label
Look for any of these on an ingredient list: BPA, Bisphenol A, BPS, Bisphenol S, BPF, Bisphenol F, BPA-free, BPS-free, BPF-free, Bisphenol-free.
Sources
- Bisphenol A (BPA): Use in Food Contact Application, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2026)
- Product Safety: Bisphenol of 2024 (SB 1266), California Department of Toxic Substances Control (2026)
- Food contact materials legislation, European Commission (2026)
- Polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) for baby bottles: a comprehensive assessment on polymer-related non-intentionally added substances (NIAS), Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A (PubMed) (2018)