Food safety risks of mislabeled risk

Increasing numbers of supposedly health-conscious consumers are choosing products with "free from" labels, from "BPA-free" plastics to "non-GMO" foods. But such labels do not increase public safety. On the contrary, not only are many of the scary-sounding ingredients perfectly safe, but manufacturers, in their haste to meet consumer demand, sometimes substitute inferior - or even harmful - ingredients or processes.

The blame for this situation lies mainly with activists and the news media for fanning unwarranted public fears. But a recent study shows how manufacturers, by drawing attention to what they are omitting from a product, perpetuate spurious concerns that actually drive consumers to take greater health risks.

The study explores, mainly through the lens of product labeling, how people evaluate the risks of bisphenol A (BPA) - a chemical that is commonly used to harden plastics and prevent the growth of bacteria in food cans - compared to its alternatives. It found that "people evaluate a situation in which scientific evidence is tempered by controversy similarly to a situation in which there is no scientific evidence at all". In other words, because there have been questions about the safety of BPA, people disregard the scientific evidence altogether.