The Great Cafeteria Cup War of 2011 rages on. The latest salvo comes from the American Chemistry Council, which apparently thinks the Styrofoam cups in the House cafeterias are getting a bad rap.

Here’s the pro-foam spin: The cups in the cafeterias do not, the group repeats, NOT cause cancer. A group of House Democrats suggested as much last month. In a letter that they circulated, the Democrats warned that the Styrofoam cups, with which Republicans replaced the recycled-material containers favored by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), might be toxic.

The council wrote lawmakers this week to defend their wares. Calling the Democrats’ anti-foam slander “inaccurate and unfair,” the group declared, “Polystyrene is a modern plastic material approved by [the Food and Drug Administration] as safe for use in food contact.”