Arsenic and lead in baby food

Homemade baby food contains as many toxic metals as store-bought options, report says

Consumer

By CBS New York Team

August 11, 2022 / 6:16 PM / CBS/CNN

Report: Homemade baby foods could contain toxic heavy metals

Report: Homemade baby foods could contain toxic heavy metals 00:32

NEW YORK -- Making baby food at home with store-bought produce isn't going to reduce the amount of toxic heavy metals in the food your baby eats, according to a new report.

"We found no evidence to suggest that homemade baby foods made from store-bought produce are better than store-bought baby foods when it comes to heavy metal contamination," said the paper's coauthor Jane Houlihan, research director for Healthy Babies, Bright Futures.

An alliance of nonprofits, scientists and donors, HBBF, which produced the report, has a stated mission of reducing babies' exposures to neurotoxic chemicals.

Researchers tested 288 foods bought at stores and farmers markets across the United States -- including grains, fruits, vegetables, snacks, teething foods, and family items that babies eat, such as cereals and rice cakes -- for lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium. Those heavy metals are among the World Health Organization's top 10 chemicals of concern for infants and children.

"Toxic metal exposure can be harmful to the developing brain. It's been linked with problems with learning, cognition, and behavior," according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Researchers also pored over data from 7,000 additional food tests reported in published studies and by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Results showed 94% of manufactured baby foods, family foods and homemade purees made from purchased raw foods contained detectable amounts of one or more heavy metals.

Lead was found in 90% of manufactured baby food bought by shoppers for the report and 80% of store-bought family food and homemade purees. There is no safe level of lead, according to the AAP.

Arsenic was found in 68% store-bought baby food and 72% of family food either purchased or prepared at home. Cadmium was found in 65% of purchased baby food and 60% of family foods, and mercury was in 7% of store-bought baby food and 10% of family foods. (The highest levels of mercury are found in seafood, which was not tested in this analysis.)

The new report is a follow-up to a November 2019 report in which Healthy Babies, Bright Futures tested 168 foods purchased from major baby food manufacturers. That analysis found 95% of store-bought baby food contained lead, 73% contained arsenic, 75% contained cadmium and 32% contained mercury. One-fourth of the foods tested that year contained all four heavy metals.

"After that report we saw so many people saying you can get around this problem by making your own baby food at home, so we decided to check," Houlihan said. "We suspected we'd find heavy metals in all kinds of food because they're ubiquitous contaminants in the environment.

"And that is exactly what we found -- heavy metals were in foods from every section of the store," Houlihan said. "What this says is that as the FDA is setting standards for heavy metals in baby food, they need to go beyond the baby food aisle."

What's a parent or caregiver to do? Feed baby with as many different types of foods as possible, said pediatrician Dr. Mark Corkins, chair of the Committee on Nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He was not involved in the study.

"If you spread foods out, and offer a wide variety of options, you'll have less toxicity," Corkins said. "And nutritionally that's always been the right thing to do to get the most micronutrients from the food you eat."

Does buying organic help?

The report found buying organic didn't lower heavy metal levels either, which was "not shocking or surprising," said Corkins, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

"It's the soil and water that's contaminated with arsenic and other heavy metals, so it doesn't matter if it's organic or traditional farming methods," Corkins said. That would apply to locally grown crops or even backyard gardens, if the soil had not been verified to be metal-free.

However, buying organic can help avoid other toxins the new report did not consider, such as herbicides and pesticides, said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, director of environmental pediatrics at NYU Langone Health. He was not involved in the study.

"There are other benefits to eating organic food, including a reduction in synthetic pesticides that are known to be as bad for babies, if not even more problematic," Trasande said.

"We've seen multiple studies show significant effects of synthetic pesticides on cognitive function in children as a result of prenatal exposure. We've seen images of the brain where certain parts are smaller that are crucial for higher order functioning after exposure," he added. "A simple step would simply be to say eat organic because regardless of anything we're talking about in this report, it's good for you."

Experts agree that battling toxins in baby foods is a job for government organizations who will need to work with growers, suppliers and manufacturers to institute regulations and safeguards. In the meantime, parents can make a difference.

"Making even one simple choice every day to lower a child's exposure will make a difference, whether that's staying away from rice-based snacks and serving a diced apple instead or choosing not to serve carrots and sweet potatoes every day," Houlihan said.

"With heavy metals and other toxins the risks add up over a lifetime," she added. "So even if some of these foods had been served to a child up to their second birthday, starting from there to lower exposure to toxins is going to add up. Every choice matters."

Least contaminated foods

Tested foods with low metal content contain one-eighth as much heavy metal contamination as foods with the highest levels, Houlihan said. These are foods that can be "eaten freely," the report suggested.

Fresh bananas, with heavy metal levels of 1.8 parts per billion, were the least contaminated of foods tested for the report. That's an "82-fold difference in average level of total heavy metals" from the most contaminated food, rice cakes, which tested at 147 parts per billion, according to the investigation.

After bananas, the least contaminated foods were grits, manufactured baby food meats, butternut squash, lamb, apples, pork, eggs, oranges and watermelon, in that order. Other foods with lower levels of contamination included green beans, peas, cucumbers, and soft or pureed home-cooked meats, the report found.

Infant formula made with lead-free tap water was recommended. Tap water that has been tested and is free of lead is always a good choice. Milk is also a good choice, but only for babies 12 months and older.

Some healthy lower-metal foods, such as yogurt, unsweetened applesauce, beans, cheese, hard-boiled eggs and grapes that have been cut lengthwise, were good choices for snacks for babies, according to the report.

Fresh and frozen fruit -- including those used in homemade purees -- were options as well. But don't use canned fruits if you can avoid it: "Tests find lead 30 times more often in canned fruit than in fresh and frozen fruit," the report stated.

Parents and caregivers can also lower their baby's exposure to heavy metals by making some smart substitutions, the report said.

Using a frozen banana for a teething baby instead of a rice-based teething biscuit or rice rusk could lower total intake of heavy metals by 95%, according to the report. Another suggested teething aid: peeled and chilled cucumber spears.

Avoid or limit these foods

The most heavily contaminated foods eaten by babies were all rice-based: "Rice cakes, rice puffs, crisped rice cereals and brown rice with no cooking water removed are heavily contaminated with inorganic arsenic, which is the more toxic form of arsenic," Houlihan said.

Arsenic is a natural element found in soil, water and air, and because rice is grown in water, it is especially good at absorbing inorganic arsenic. ("Inorganic" is a chemical term and has nothing to do with the method of farming.) Brown and wild rice are the worst offenders, as the bran contains the highest arsenic concentrations.

Prior research has shown that even low levels of inorganic arsenic exposure can impact a baby's neurodevelopment. A meta-analysis of studies on the topic found a 50% increase in arsenic levels in urine would be associated with a 0.4-point decrease in the IQ of children between the ages of 5 and 15.

Testing by HBBF found rice cakes were the most contaminated with inorganic arsenic, followed by crisped rice cereal, rice-based puffs and brown rice. The report recommended those foods be avoided entirely, unless the brown rice is cooked with extra water that is poured off before consumption (much like pasta). It's best to do that with all rice, including white and wild rice, the report said, as it can reduce arsenic levels by up to 60%.

Rice-based teething biscuits or rusks and white rice came next on the most contaminated list, the report said. White rice is milled to remove the outer layers, but experts say arsenic levels remain high enough to be concerning, especially if rice is a daily staple.

"Inorganic arsenic averaged 100 parts per billion in brown rice infant cereal and 74 parts per billion in white rice infant cereal in our tests," Houlihan said. "Baby food companies have taken brown rice cereal off the market because of its high arsenic levels."

Parents and caregivers can help by staying away from high-arsenic varieties of white rice grown in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, or simply "US" and instead choosing lower-arsenic basmati rice from California, India and Pakistan, as well as sushi rice from the US, the report said.

Serve these foods rarely

After rice-based foods, the analysis found the highest levels of heavy metals in raisins, non-rice teething crackers, granola bars with raisins and oat-ring cereals. But those were not the only foods of concern: Dried fruit, grape juice, arrowroot teething crackers and sunflower seed butter all contained high amounts of at least one toxic metal, according to the report.

"Many foods have a kind of unique, heavy metal profile," Houlihan explained. "For example, we saw very high levels of cadmium in things like spinach, leaf lettuce and peanut butter."

However, the human body doesn't absorb cadmium as easily as other heavy metals, and for that reason "it doesn't have as high a level of concern," Houlihan added.

"There's also not as much evidence that cadmium is neurotoxic to babies, or at least the body of evidence isn't there at the same levels as lead and arsenic," she said. "Lead and arsenic damage isn't reversible -- these are permanent impacts on IQ, learning ability and behavior, so it's a big deal. "

Root and tuber vegetables may have higher levels of heavy metals like lead and arsenic because they grow underground. In fact, the investigation found that nutritious baby favorites like carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and many types of potatoes did have concerning levels of heavy metals.

Even the same food could have varying levels of toxic metals, according to the report. For example, a shopper in Raleigh, North Carolina, bought a sweet potato with 60.7 parts per billion of lead -- 10 times more than the store-bought sweet potato puree she purchased. A Chicago shopper purchased a fresh carrot with eight times more arsenic than the premade carrot baby food she took home, the investigation found.

Yet shoppers in Tennessee and California found the opposite -- their fresh produce had minimal levels of heavy metals compared with the manufactured baby food brands they bought.

"As a parent, you don't know what you're picking up out of the produce bin," Houlihan said. "Is it elevated because of the cultivar -- the particular type of sweet potato or carrot? Or is it elevated because it's grown in an area where the soil has naturally high levels of lead?

Answering these questions will be the responsibility of government regulators and industry, Houlihan said. The FDA has a Closer to Zero campaign, for example, which could take on the issue.

CNN reached out to the FDA for comment but didn't immediately received a response.

"And remember, if you're protecting the basic ingredients that parents are using to make food at home, you're not only protecting babies and toddlers, you're protecting pregnant women as well. Babies in utero are particularly vulnerable to toxins while the brain is growing at such a rapid pace."

With no way of knowing levels of toxic metals in the soil where produce is grown, parents and caregivers need to add one more step to their efforts to avoid these substances, Houlihan suggested. In addition to mixing up the variety of foods and not serving the same options each day, parents can "choose different brands or varieties of foods or shop in different stores from week to week to avoid choosing a high-metal source regularly. "

CBS New York Team

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Closer to Zero: Action Plan for Baby Foods

About | Approach | Action Items & Proposed Timeline | On-Going Work | Announcements

Featured

FDA and Federal Partners Launch Study on the Role of Seafood Consumption in Child Growth and Development

Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study that is designed to provide the most up-to-date understanding of the science of seafood consumption and child growth and development that supports the goals of our Closer to Zero Action Plan. It will also help inform whether updates are needed for the current Advice about Eating Fish for children and those who might become or are pregnant or breastfeeding.

FDA Updates Interim Reference Level for Lead

To help ensure that FDA’s guidance to industry on lead in food is based on the latest science, FDA researchers have lowered the Interim Reference Level. Learn More.

Stakeholder Webinar on Lead in Juice

Watch the stakeholder webinar held on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 where the agency's draft guidance on action levels for lead in juice was discussed.

Guidance

The FDA has issued draft guidance to industry on action levels for lead in single-strength juices and juice blends. To learn more about the action levels and how to submit public comments, please see FDA Issues Draft Guidance to Industry on Action Levels for Lead in Juice.

About the Action Plan

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) plan, Closer to Zero, identifies actions the agency will take to reduce exposure to arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury from foods eaten by babies and young children—to as low as possible. We have prioritized babies and young children because their smaller body sizes and metabolism make them more vulnerable to the harmful effects of these contaminants.

Exposure to arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury, from foods depends on the levels of the elements in the food and the amount consumed. The levels of these elements in foods depend on many factors, including:

the levels of these elements in the air, water, and soil used to grow the crops, which vary depending on factors such as natural geographical differences and past or current contamination,
the type of food crop and how much “uptake” there is of specific elements from the environment, and
industrial, manufacturing, and agricultural processes.

Our work, combined with that of our stakeholders, has led to meaningful reductions in exposure to toxic elements. The FDA’s action plan builds on this progress and outlines a science-based, iterative approach for achieving continual improvements over time. Further reductions in the levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in foods will be made by:

advancing the FDA’s research on and evaluating changes in dietary exposures to these elements,
setting action levels, with input from stakeholders,
encouraging adoption of best practices by industry to lower levels of toxic elements in agricultural commodities and products,
increasing targeted compliance and enforcement activities, and
monitoring progress of levels over time.

Action levels are a level of contamination at which a food may be regarded as adulterated within the meaning of section 402(a)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The FDA considers action levels, in addition to other factors and scientific evidence, when considering whether to bring enforcement action in a particular case.

Reducing levels of toxic elements in foods is complicated and multifaceted. It is crucial to ensure that measures taken to limit arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in foods does not have unintended consequences—like eliminating from the marketplace foods that have significant nutritional benefits or reducing the presence of one element while increasing another.

The FDA is committed to a science-driven, transparent, and inclusive process that will include active stakeholder engagement and public sharing of data and information. This iterative plan will be updated as new data, information, and resources become available.

Understanding the FDA’s Approach

To make continual improvements, the FDA’s action plan follows a four-stage iterative approach that includes research, regulatory, and outreach efforts.

The Four Stages of the FDA’s Approach:

Evaluate the scientific basis for action levels. The cycle of continual improvement starts with the FDA evaluating existing data from routine testing of the food supply, research and data on chemical analytical methods, toxicological assays, exposure and risk assessments, and other relevant scientific information. Through a process that may include engagement with stakeholders, advisory committees, public workshops, and consultation with scientific experts, federal agency partners and other stakeholders, the agency will establish interim reference levels (IRLs) for certain toxic elements as appropriate. An IRL is a measure of exposure from food that the FDA may use to determine if the amount of exposure to an individual element across foods could result in a specific health impact.

Propose action levels. The IRLs may be among the key factors that inform the development of the FDA’s proposed action levels for certain toxic elements in categories of baby foods (e.g., cereals, infant formula, pureed fruits and vegetables) and other foods commonly eaten by babies and young children.

Consult with stakeholders on proposed action levels, including the achievability and feasibility of action levels. For each individual element in every identified category of food, the FDA will gather data and other information through a process of consultation which could include workshops, scientific meetings, and collaboration with federal partners to assess, among other things, the achievability and feasibility of the proposed action levels and the timeframes for reaching them.

Finalize action levels. The FDA will use the information gathered from stakeholders, updated scientific research, and routine monitoring of data to make any needed adjustments and finalize action levels.

The FDA's Approach in Action

Once the FDA has published final action levels, the agency will establish a timeframe for assessing industry’s progress toward meeting the action levels and recommence the cycle to determine if the scientific data support efforts to further adjust the action levels.

The availability of data and additional research needs for arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury are different. Therefore, because of currently available data, we will start with proposing action levels for lead while we evaluate data for the other toxic elements. We will then progress through the cycle for each element as we gather more data and information across various categories of food consumed by babies and young children.

The FDA will support the cycle of continual improvement with ongoing activities related to monitoring levels in foods; research on chemical methods, toxicological impacts, exposures, and risk communication; and routine compliance and enforcement efforts. The FDA will evaluate information as it becomes available to determine whether any foods are adulterated or otherwise violative and take action as appropriate. The FDA intends to make information about our monitoring, research, and enforcement actions publicly available. The timeline and deliverables included in the plan will be updated periodically as new data, information, and resources become available.

Action Items and Proposed Timeline

Phase 1: April 2021 – April 2022

Stage in the Cycle of Improvement	Toxic Element	Action
Evaluate	Arsenic	Gather data through a process of consultation, which could include workshops, scientific meetings, and collaboration with federal partners to work toward establishing an interim reference level
Propose	Lead	Draft action levels for categories of foods consumed by babies and young children
Consult	Lead	Engage with stakeholders to assess, among other things, feasibility and best practices
Ongoing Monitoring, Research, and Compliance	All	Provide resources to industry on best practices for reducing or preventing lead contamination Complete sampling assignment for baby foods
Key Accomplishments	All	Provided draft action levels for lead in juice. Made significant progress in evaluating the science for arsenic and the dose-response of cadmium to establish interim reference levels. Sampled baby foods for research, monitoring, and compliance purposes. Collaborated with USDA, USDA-WIC, NIH, consumer safety stakeholders, and industry, including: FDA public meeting on Closer to Zero in November 2021. FDA-Society of Toxicology hosted colloquium on arsenic and children’s health in December 2021. USDA-FDA joint public meeting on agricultural techniques to mitigate uptake of toxic elements in crop scheduled for April 2022.

Phase 2: April 2022 – April 2024

Stage in the Cycle of Improvement	Toxic Element	Action
Evaluate	Cadmium Mercury	Gather data through a process of consultation which could include workshops, scientific meetings, and collaboration with federal partners to work toward establishing an interim reference level
Propose	Arsenic	Draft action levels for categories of foods consumed by babies and young children
Consult	Arsenic	Engage with stakeholders to assess, among other things, feasibility and best practices
Finalize	Lead	Finalize action levels for lead in categories of foods consumed by babies and young children
Ongoing Monitoring, Research, and Compliance	All	Issue guidance chapter on chemical hazards in the Draft Guidance for Industry on Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food Publish results from sampling assignment for baby foods Publish Total Diet Study results (to occur biennially) Publish exposure assessments for children to toxic elements (to occur biennially)

Phase 3: April 2024 – beyond

Stage in the Cycle of Improvement	Toxic Element	Action
Evaluate	Lead	Review new scientific data, assess progress on reducing lead in foods consumed by babies and young children and feasibility of attaining even lower levels
Propose	Cadmium Mercury	Draft action levels for categories of foods consumed by babies and young children
Consult	Cadmium Mercury	Engage with stakeholders to assess, among other things, feasibility and best practices
Finalize	Arsenic	Finalize action levels for arsenic in categories of foods consumed by babies and young children
Ongoing Monitoring, Research, and Compliance	All	Complete additional baby food sampling assignments Publish results from sampling assignment for baby foods Publish Total Diet Study results (to occur biennially) Publish exposure assessments for children to toxic elements (to occur biennially)

As action levels are finalized, we will continue the cycle of continual improvement, addressing arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in its turn, to evaluate whether downward adjustments of interim reference levels should be made; proposing new action levels, as appropriate; consulting with stakeholders on feasibility, achievability, and other issues; and adjusting (as needed) and finalizing action levels.

Ongoing Work on Toxic Elements

Trends in Exposure to Toxic Elements from Foods for Babies and Young Children (PDF: 1.7MB)

The FDA’s testing of toxic elements in foods has shown that over time there have been significant reductions in the levels of these elements in foods and the Closer to Zero action plan will help further advance progress in this area.

In addition to the actions in the proposed timeline, we will continue:

Developing and validating analytical methods.
Toxicological research on impacts of toxic elements on development in children.
Developing new dose-response models to consider the probability of other adverse health effects in different sub-populations, including infants and young children.
Collaborating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on research on agronomic techniques that may mitigate uptake of toxic elements in agricultural commodities.
Collaborating with the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to better understand impacts of toxic elements on development and the role of nutrition for mitigating those impacts.
Evaluating potential impact of new technologies, interventions, or mitigation controls to reduce exposure and resulting risk to consumer health.
Reevaluating risk assessments based on declining levels of toxic elements in foods.

The FDA’s regulatory actions, along with research and collaboration with all of our stakeholders – industry, advocacy, policy makers, academia, and consumers – will result in significant reductions in exposures to arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium, among children and the general population and have lasting public health impact.

Announcements

FDA to Hold Webinar on the Draft Guidance for Industry on Action Levels for Lead in Juice (June 20, 2022)

FDA Issues Draft Guidance to Industry on Action Levels for Lead in Juice (April 27, 2022)

FDA Announces First Closer to Zero Action Plan Public Meeting (October 8, 2021)

FDA Statement: FDA Releases Action Plan for Reducing Exposure to Toxic Elements from Foods for Babies, Young Children (April 8, 2021)

FDA Shares Action Plan for Reducing Exposure to Toxic Elements from Foods for Babies and Young Children (April 8, 2021)

FDA Letter to Industry on Chemical Hazards, including Toxic Elements, in Food and Update on FDA Efforts to Increase the Safety of Foods for Babies and Young Children (March 5, 2021)

FDA Statement: FDA Announces New Actions Aimed at Further Reducing Toxic Elements in Food for Babies, Young Children (March 5, 2021)

FDA Response to Questions About Levels of Toxic Elements in Baby Food, Following Congressional Report (February 16, 2021)

Arsenic, lead and mercury found in popular brands of baby food

https://ria. ru/20210205/pitanie-1596127725.html

Arsenic, lead and mercury found in popular brands of baby food

Found in popular brands of baby food arsenic, lead and mercury - RIA Novosti, 02/05/2021

Arsenic, lead and mercury found in popular brands of baby food .. RIA Novosti, 05.02.2021

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MOSCOW, February 5 - RIA Novosti. High levels of heavy toxic metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, have been found in some U.S. baby formulas that can lead to neurological damage in children, according to a U.S. House of Representatives study. Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee experts examined the domestic documentation from Gerber, Nurture Inc, Hain Celestial Group Inc, Beech-Nutrition, who provided data on a voluntary basis in response to a subcommittee request. It was based on reports of the presence of metals a year earlier. Walmart, Campbell and Sprout Organic Foods refused to cooperate with the investigators. "The subcommittee investigation proves that commercial baby food contains dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium. "metals pose a serious health hazard to infants and toddlers. Manufacturers knowingly sell these products to unsuspecting parents, despite internal company standards and test results, and without any warning labels," the subcommittee on economic and consumer policy said in the text of the study. in the structure of the Committee on Oversight and Reform in the US House of Representatives. It is noted that exposure to toxic heavy metals leads to a "permanent decrease in IQ", as well as a decrease in "infant neurological development and long-term brain function." According to the US regulator and WHO, these four heavy metals are hazardous to human health, "especially for infants and children, who are most susceptible to their neutrotoxic effects. "

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MOSCOW, February 5 - RIA Novosti. High levels of heavy toxic metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, have been found in some US baby formulas that can lead to neurological damage in children, according to a US House of Representatives study.

Experts from the Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee reviewed internal documentation from Gerber, Nurture Inc, Hain Celestial Group Inc, Beech-Nutrition, which provided data on a voluntary basis in response to a subcommittee request. It was based on reports of the presence of metals that appeared a year earlier.

August 15, 2020, 02:05 AM

Sugar in baby food deemed dangerous for adults

Walmart, Campbell and Sprout Organic Foods refused to cooperate with the investigators.

"Subcommittee investigation finds that commercial baby food contains dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium. These toxic heavy metals pose a serious health hazard to infants and toddlers. Manufacturers knowingly sell these products to unsuspecting parents, despite internal company standards and test results, and without any warning label," the text of the study by the subcommittee on economic and consumer policy in the structure of the Committee on Oversight and Reform in the US House of Representatives says.

Exposure to toxic heavy metals has been reported to result in a "permanent decline in IQ" as well as a reduction in "infant neurological development and long-term brain function". According to the US regulator and WHO, these four heavy metals are hazardous to human health, "especially for infants and children, who are most susceptible to their neutrotoxic effects."

January 25, 2021, 12:13

The Prosecutor General's Office will check the quality of food in kindergartens and schools

In baby food Gerber and Nurture Inc. found heavy metals

Experts from the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the US House of Representatives found dangerous levels of toxic metals in the baby food of several American brands. CNN writes about the progress of the investigation.

Testing found high levels of substances such as arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury in baby products. These heavy toxic metals pose a serious health hazard to children.
Products from Gerber, Nurture Inc., Hain Celestial Group and Beech-Nutrition.
Manufacturers have been accused of knowingly selling these unlabeled products to parents who are unaware of the risks they are putting their children at.
Experts and the World Health Organization also draw attention to the fact that exposure to these metals can lead to a decrease in intelligence, inhibition of the neurological development of infants and impaired brain function.

US Baby Food Market Situation

According to the 2019 Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) report, 95% of baby food samples tested contain at least one of four substances: arsenic, mercury, cadmium or lead.

Experts tested 168 baby food brands. 25% of them contained all four substances at once.
The researchers specifically recommended avoiding rice-based foods, as well as carrots, sweet potatoes, and fruit juices.
Instead, scientists recommended steaming vegetables for children, feeding them cereals, fruits for breakfast, and using a frozen banana or chilled cucumber to relieve teething pain.

In Russia

, New Zealand (1), Russia (4), Finland (1), Switzerland (1) and Estonia (1), which are sold in Russia.

Experts did not reveal any violations, but only the Belarusian product showed full compliance with all quality standards.
Experts tested the mixtures for microbiological safety and the presence of preservatives and antibiotics.
The results showed that the products are "free of dangerous microorganisms (including salmonella), mold and yeast, preservatives and antibiotics, lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic."

Child food poisoning cases