There are currently zero regulations on heavy metal contamination in baby food, but the proposed plans are years away from implementation. Like most governmental issues, this appears to be moving extremely slowly, and it’s unacceptable. Currently, the timeline looks like limiting lead in baby food by the middle of 2022, limiting inorganic arsenic by April 2024, and limiting cadmium and mercury after April 2024. On October 21, 2021, 23 attorney generals in the US petitioned the FDA to expedite their process of implementing standards for heavy metals in baby food. Which baby foods you can actually trust.How to avoid the toxic contaminants that might be lurking in baby food.How to read a baby food label & what the certifications mean.Why new information shows that baby food has toxic heavy metals.Today we’re going to answer questions like: In the case of Hain (Earth’s Best Organics), 100% of the baby foods tested had higher inorganic arsenic levels than the company estimated based on testing the individual ingredients – sometimes up to 93% higher.Ĭurrent food labeling laws don’t require manufacturers to label foods or have a warning label of any kind, either. It seems as though food additives and the manufacturing process might be adding even more heavy metals to the food.Īccording to the report, most companies only test the ingredients used in the food, not the final product. The new 2021 report goes further, though. It should only become a problem if you’re feeding your little one a diet consisting only of root veggies like carrots and sweet potatoes. Instead, they recommend feeding these foods and a variety of other foods to limit exposure while still getting the benefit of these nutritious veggies. Happy Babies Bright Futures doesn’t recommend completely avoiding baby food with sweet potato and carrot. Sweet potato and carrots are root vegetables that are very high in Vitamin A and other essential nutrients, but unfortunately, also high in lead and cadmium. Plants absorb them as they grow, leaving trace amounts of the metals in the plants we consume.” Evelyn Benden, RD. “Most of these metals are naturally occurring in soil, water or air. Rice is also a big offender but generally not found in puree foods – it’s mainly found in puff cereals meant for toddlers. It turns out that when it comes to baby food, the worst offenders are those that contain sweet potato and carrot, even if organic. ( Use code “BETTERGOODS50” for 50% off your first order) Avoiding the toxins. They use organic vegetables that come from US family farms, and both the ingredients and finished products are tested to ensure the safest baby food possible.Ĭlick here to see their full range of baby foods. The organic baby food we recommend is Yumi. There are currently no federal standards for heavy metals in baby food in the USA.įor this reason, we’re taking a deep dive into organic baby food brands to find safe and reliable options. They found “95 percent of tested baby foods contain toxic chemicals that lower babies’ IQ, including arsenic and lead.” In November 2019, a study was conducted by Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF), an organization dedicated to reducing babies’ exposure to toxic chemicals. Consumer advocacy groups have had similar findings in recent years. Toxic heavy metals in baby food isn’t new. This is concerning because the lack of cooperation could mean that their foods contain even higher levels of toxic metals in their baby food products. Of those seven, three of them: Walmart (Parent’s Choice), Campbell Soup Company (Plum Organics), and Sprout Organic Foods refused to cooperate at all. The US government requested internal documents and test results from seven large US baby food manufacturers. The study found brands including Gerber and Beech-Nut to have “dangerously high” levels of toxic chemicals like arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury. You may have heard the recent news that a congressional hearing found high levels of toxic metals in several top baby food brands.
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