• Ad Age, Tuesday, September 1, 2009 10:44 AM

Sigg, whose reusable metal bottles became bestsellers when concerns about the use of Bisphenol-A (BPA) in plastic bottles caught the public's eye a couple of years ago, itself was selling containers with trace amounts of BPA before August 2008, CEO Steve Wasik has admitted. Now, Natalie Zmuda writes, the company "is in danger of becoming a poster child for brand deception and corporate dishonesty."

"The primary reason that I am writing this letter today is because I believe that the BPA conversation has changed dramatically in the last 12 months," Wasik writes on the Sigg Web site. Wasik claims that, previously, the conversation surrounding BPA was focused on leaching. Since tests on Sigg's bottles showed 0% leaching, it evidently didn't think it had a credibility problem.

"Americans want transparency, and this company doesn't seem to understand that," says Elaine Shannon, editor-in-chief at the Environmental Working Group, suggesting the situation is less about the presence of BPA and more about the way the company has handled the situation. Wasik says Sigg is considering amping up its outreach to let consumers know that they can trade in old bottles containing BPA.

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