Petainer designs and manufactures PET food and beverage containers and its PetainerCoolers are produced at the company’s manufacturing plant in Aš, the Czech Republic and are available in Prik & Tik’s retail outlets in Belgium.
Potential legislative changes
“We chose PetainerCooler because it is well suited to the retail environment, offering real shelf-appeal, thanks to its high quality appearance,” said Johan Braekers, sales director, Prik & Tik.
“It was important we found a BPA-free water cooler to ensure we are ahead of any potential legislative changes as uncertainty continues around the potential effects of BPA on health. PetainerCooler is the answer to this, combined with its durability, strength and compatibility with our filling partner, Evidel.”
Niko Claeys, operations manager, Evidel, added the water cooler can be filled in the same way as existing polycarbonate bottles and can be washed at a lower temperature.
According to Craig Pope, sales director, Petainer, the company is seeing interest around PetainerCooler, because BPA-free products are ‘an increasing priority in many markets’.
BPA is an industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the 1960s. It is found in polycarbonate plastics. Research has shown it can seep into food or beverages from containers causing concern because of possible health effects.
Annemieke Hartman-Jemmett, strategy director, Petainer, believes demand for water cooler containers that are 100% free of BPA is set to increase sharply in the wake of rising health concerns and changes to safety regulations.
Dutch presidency
France banned BPA from food and beverage packaging from January 2015, and in April this year, the Dutch presidency requested the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) look into the safety of BPA.
The request made by Edith Schippers, Dutch minister of health, welfare and sport, follows a report published by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) into the risks of BPA on the environment and health.
In January last year EFSA published an opinion in which it said BPA posed no safety risk to consumers of any age group, including unborn children, infants and adolescents. It said exposure from the diet or a variety of sources, including dust, cosmetics or thermal paper, all fell "considerably below" safe limits.
Although new data and refined methodologies have meant a reduction in the safe level of BPA from 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day (μg/kg of bw/day) to 4 μg/kg of bw/day, the EFSA opinion found the highest estimates for exposure were three to five times lower than this.
World Trade Organisation
But according to a draft EU regulation published by the World Trade Organisation, there could be stricter limits on BPA by March 2017.
The regulation would see the migration limit for BPA changed from 0.6 mg/kg to 0.05 mg/kg, while this 0.5 mg migration limit would be expanded to include varnished or coated materials intended to come into contact with food.
“The tide is turning against the use of BPA in the food and beverage industry. Regulators and EFSA’s scientists can no longer ignore the mounting evidence that BPA is harmful to health, and we believe it’s only a matter of time before PET water coolers with zero BPA are selected over other products globally,” said Hartman-Jemmett.
“Innovation through using proven safe materials is Petainer’s top priority, so we decided to pre-empt regulatory changes and develop our own, healthier BPA-free water cooler container – the PetainerCooler.”
Petainer is a UK-based company which has production plants in Sweden and the Czech Republic, blowing facilities in North America, Russia, India and Australia, and sales offices in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany, US and UK.