Does baby food have arsenic

Arsenic and Other Heavy Metals in Homemade Baby Food

Homemade baby foods are as likely as store-bought ones to contain detectable levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury, according to a new report from Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF), a national alliance of scientists and child health advocacy organizations. Over 90 percent of the foods analyzed had detectable levels of at least one heavy metal.

The report also identified the foods often fed to babies that contain the highest and lowest levels of heavy metals to help parents choose better ones for their children. Among the worst are rice cakes, rice puffs, and crisped-rice cereal. Those with lower levels include bananas, oranges, eggs, and meats.

Previous research—including testing by Consumer Reports—found alarmingly high levels of heavy metals in some store-bought baby foods and fruit juices. “For parents and researchers, that’s raised the question of whether homemade baby foods were a safer choice,” says Michael Hansen, PhD, senior scientist at CR. “These findings suggest that while homemade food can be equally risky, there are things parents can do to stay safe and minimize exposure to heavy metals.”

Jane Houlihan, research director at HBBF and a co-author of the report, agrees. “Even taking one simple step every day can reduce the harm,” she says. For example, parents can swap fresh or frozen fruit for canned, serve infant oatmeal instead of infant rice cereal, and peel sweet potatoes before cooking them.

Heavy metals exist naturally in the environment, but levels are higher in water and soil contaminated by manufacturing or farming practices, such as mining or pesticide application. Some foods are more likely to absorb certain metals. Rice, for example, is more likely to pick up inorganic arsenic, the most harmful form of that element, and spinach can absorb high levels of cadmium.

Heavy metals in food raise concerns particularly for young children because their bodies and brains are still developing. Exposure has been linked to behavioral issues, lowered IQs, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

A pair of recent congressional reports called attention to these sometimes alarmingly high levels of metals, and the Food and Drug Administration has announced plans to set limits on metals in certain foods. CR, along with other food safety organizations and some state attorneys general, has called on the agency to speed up its plan.

“The new report shows that heavy metal contamination isn’t limited to specifically marketed baby foods, but instead affects certain crops as a whole,” Hansen says. And for some crops, such as carrots and sweet potatoes, heavy metal levels varied widely from sample to sample. That suggests that it’s possible for growers and food producers to provide products with lower levels. “This should add to the urgency for FDA to take action and get these metals out of food.”

For the new study, HBBF tested 14 types of baby foods, such as purées and teething biscuits, and compared them to 14 similar products eaten by people of all ages. For example, to compare infant squash purée, they tested fresh squash, and for rice-based teething biscuits, they tested rice cakes.

In some cases, the prepared baby foods had lower levels of heavy metals. For other items, the homemade version had lower levels. But mostly, the differences were minor.

To supplement those tests, HBBF also analyzed heavy metal data from FDA tests of other foods to present information on a total of 190 foods.

To help guide parents, they divided the foods into four categories based on their heavy metal levels and how often babies (and pregnant people) should eat them:

Avoid. Crisped rice cereal, rice puffs, rice cakes, and brown rice. (For brown rice, you can serve it occasionally if you cook it in water and drain it, the way you would pasta.)

Eat rarely. Arrowroot teething crackers, dried fruit, grape juice, infant rice cereal, oat-ring cereal (such as Cheerios and other brands), rice-based teething biscuits and rusks, full-sized spinach (as opposed to baby spinach), and sunflower seed butter.

Eat occasionally. These foods should be rotated with similar foods in a child’s diet rather than serving the same ones every day: baby spinach, cantaloupe, canned fruit, carrots, 100 percent fruit juice (other than grape), nonrice grains, nonrice teething biscuits and crackers, leafy greens, peanut butter, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and white rice (which should also be cooked in lots of water and drained). Washing and peeling carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes reduces their heavy metal content.

Eat freely. Many other foods. Among those highlighted by HBBF were most fresh, frozen, and puréed fruit; peas, green beans, and butternut squash; meats like pork, lamb, or baby food meats; eggs; beans; applesauce; cheese; yogurt; and infant formula made with lead-free water.

“The most important piece of advice is to serve a variety of healthy foods,” Houlihan says. In addition, HBBF identifies several simple changes parents can make:

• Replace teething biscuits and rice rusks with a frozen banana.

• Swap canned fruit for fresh fruit, frozen fruit, or baby food fruit purées.

• Give kids infant oatmeal cereal instead of infant rice cereal.

• Offer tap water instead of fruit juice like apple juice or grape juice.

• Vary protein sources, for example, including some puréed meats along with some nut butters.

• Peel sweet potatoes and carrots to lower heavy metal levels.

• Offer applesauce, beans, fruit, yogurt, or cheese as snacks instead of rice-based puffs.

Kevin Loria

Kevin Loria is a senior reporter covering health and science at Consumer Reports. He has been with CR since 2018, covering environmental health, food safety, infectious disease, fitness, and more. Previously, Kevin was a correspondent covering health, science, and the environment at Business Insider. Kevin lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and children. Follow him on Twitter @kevloria.

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

The CBS New York team is a group of experienced journalists who bring you the content on CBSNewYork.com.

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First published on August 11, 2022 / 6:16 PM

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Homemade baby food as toxic as store-bought

There are no “all kinds of chemicals” in your own kitchen, but the same “all kinds of chemicals” are contained in the products themselves.

Homemade baby food made from commercial products will not reduce the amount of toxic heavy metals in food. American researchers came to this conclusion.

See also: Unhealthy food: six unhealthy foods in your kitchen.

“We found no evidence that homemade baby food made with store-bought foods is better than store-bought baby food when it comes to heavy metal contamination,” said study co-author Jane Houlihan.

Worked by an alliance of non-profit organizations, scientists and donors. The researchers tested 288 products purchased from stores and farmers' markets across the United States. They bought cereals, fruits and vegetables.

Products tested for lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium. These heavy metals are among the World Health Organization's top 10 chemicals of concern for children's health. Exposure to toxic metals can be harmful to the developing brain. This has been associated with problems in learning, cognition, and behavior,” reports the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The researchers also looked at 7,000 additional food tests from the US Food and Drug Administration.

All homemade baby food contains heavy metals

The results showed that 94% of baby food made from purchased raw foods contained one or more heavy metals. Lead has been found in 90% of purchased baby food and 80% of homemade food. At the same time, there is no safe level of lead.

Arsenic has been found in 68% of store-bought baby food. And in 72% of food prepared at home. Cadmium has been found in 65% of purchased baby food and 60% of homemade food. Mercury was found in 7% of store-bought food and 10% of homemade food.

The new report is a continuation of the 2019 study. At that time, Healthy Babies, Bright Futures tested 168 products purchased from major baby food manufacturers. This analysis showed that 95% of store-bought baby food contained lead, 73% arsenic, 75% cadmium, and 32% mercury.

A quarter of the products tested last year contained all four heavy metals.

“After this report, we saw many people saying that you can solve this problem by making your own baby food at home. And we decided to check it out,” Houlihan said. “We suspected that we would find heavy metals in all types of food. After all, they are the ubiquitous environmental pollutants. And so it turned out: heavy metals were in products from all departments of the store.

Does buying organic help

Buying organic also does not reduce heavy metals. It is “not shocking or surprising,” says Professor Corkins. He explained that it is the soil and water that are contaminated with arsenic and other heavy metals. So it doesn't matter if the farming methods are organic or traditional.

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

There are other benefits to eating organic food. Including reducing the amount of synthetic pesticides. They are known to be just as harmful to children, if not more problematic, Trasande said.

What to feed your baby

As many different types of foods as possible, says pediatrician Dr. Mark Corkins, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition. He did not take part in the study. The wider the choice of products, the less toxicity. Plus, this will allow you to get as many trace elements from food as possible.

Arsenic, lead and mercury found in popular baby food brands

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

Arsenic, lead and mercury found in popular baby food brands

Arsenic, lead and mercury found in popular baby food brands - RIA Novosti, 05. 02.2021

Arsenic, lead and mercury found in popular baby food brands

High levels the presence of heavy toxic metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, are recorded in the baby food of some American ... RIA Novosti, 05.02.20210003

2021-02-05T16:38

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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.

Sugar in baby food deemed dangerous for adults

August 15, 2020, 02:05

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.