News about Baby Food Toxic Metals

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I sometimes buy these jars of food for my dog, when they are marked down or on a clearance sale.  Whew, not any longer!



https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/02/04/toxic-metals-baby-food/


New report finds toxic heavy metals in popular baby foods. FDA failed to warn consumers of risk.

A congressional report found many of the products made by the country’s largest commercial baby food manufacturers contain significant levels of toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, which can endanger infant neurological development.

The report released Thursday from the House Oversight Committee’s subcommittee on economic and consumer policy found heavy metals in rice cereals, sweet potato puree, juices and sweet snack puffs made by some of the most trusted names in baby food.

Gerber, Beech-Nut, HappyBABY (made by Nurture) and Earth’s Best Organic baby foods (made by Hain Celestial Group) complied with the committee’s request to submit internal testing documents.

Campbell Soup, which sells Plum Organics baby foods, Walmart (its private brand is Parent’s Choice) and Sprout Foods declined to cooperate, according to members of the subcommittee.

Beech-Nut used ingredients containing as much as 886.9 parts per billion of lead, according to the information supplied to the committee. It used many ingredients with high lead count, including 483 that contained over 5 ppb lead, 89 that contained over 15 ppb lead, and 57 that contained over 20 ppb lead.

“Beech-Nut established heavy metal testing standards 35 years ago, and we continuously review and strengthen them wherever possible,” said Jason Jacobs, vice president of food safety, quality and innovation. “We look forward to working with the FDA, in partnership with the Baby Food Council, on science-based standards that food suppliers can implement across our industry.”

In addition, Gerber used carrots containing as much as 87 ppb of cadmium and Nurture sold baby foods with as much as 10 ppb of mercury. And even when baby foods tested over companies’ internal limits for these heavy metals, they  were sold anyway