Trying to stay away from bisphenol A is tricky enough with the stuff lurking in the water cooler at work, the tupperware in the fridge, and even glass baby food jars at the grocery store; but a new announcement from Sigg reveals another difficulty—BPA in products that have a reputation of being BPA-free. Sigg bottles have long been thought of as the BPA-free alternative to the hard plastic Nalgene bottles that were popular before BPA concerns arose in recent years (Nalgene now makes BPA-free bottles), and business has boomed for the company as the aluminum bottles started showing up in the hands of people everywhere, the majority of whom preferred the Sigg bottles for their lack of BPA. Or, rather, who assumed that the Sigg bottles were without BPA.

Sigg CEO Steve Wasik sent out a letter this month alerting Sigg customers to the fact that up until a year ago, Sigg bottles did, in fact, contain BPA in their water-based epoxy liners. As shocking as the news has been for Sigg users, it’s worth nothing that Sigg never actually stated that the liners in the reusable water bottles were BPA-free, but rather said that they did not leach BPA in testing at both initial and two year points (and those test results have always been available to the public), which led to the assumption that the liners did not include the use of BPA. Still, some consumers feel that Sigg specifically avoided revealing that the liners contained BPA—the company said it was because their manufacturer would not let them release details on the product—to boost sales and are suspicious as to why the company waited for an entire year after they switched to the new EcoCare BPA-free epoxy liners to announce the change.

While hearing there’s BPA in a reusable bottle that you bought because you thought it was free of the potential endocrine disruptor isn’t exactly reassuring, it doesn’t necessarily mean your should toss your old Sigg. The testing results for the older Siggs indicate that there really isn’t any leaching, even after years of use—why Sigg didn’t just state the bottles contained BPA but would not leach it remains a mystery. Don’t write off all metal water bottles, either; any new aluminum Sigg you purchase will include a liner completely free of BPA, and other brands like the stainless steel Klean Kanteen (which is the favorite of the forces behind the bottled water documentary Tapped) don’t require liners at all.

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