Boots vows to phase out baby bottles containing chemical

Boots said yesterday it would phase out baby bottles containing BPA within "a few weeks".

In a statement released last night, Britain's largest chemist said that the new version of their own brand baby bottles are no longer made with BPA and that the older models would be phased out shortly.

"There are only a small number of the now discontinued Boots' own baby bottles containing BPA, currently on sale within some Boots stores which are being phased out," the statement said. "This process is expected to be complete in a few weeks."

Mothercare, another prominent high street retailer which continues to sell bottles containing BPA, declined to comment on whether they would try to speed up their own phasing out process. The company had intended to be BPA free by January this year but the deadline has since slipped to early autumn. Asked whether the company would try to quicken that process in light of The Independent's investigation, a spokesman said: "I can confirm that Mothercare has nothing further to add to our previous statements regarding BPA."

Campaigners want the government to do more to encourage manufacturers to stop using BPA in baby products altogether. But the Food Standards Agency last night said it would continue to take advice from the European Food Safety Authority over the potential health effects of BPA. "EFSA is currently reviewing recent research in this area and the UK is actively involved in this," a spokesman said.