Toxic Metals Contaminate All Baby Foods Tested: New Government Report

https://www.ecowatch.com/toxic-metals-baby-food-2650294495.html

 

Olivia Rosane
Feb. 04, 2021 01:55PM EST

A new Congressional report presents some disturbing information about the contents of popular baby foods, including some organic brands.

Toxic metals arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury were all present at levels beyond what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers safe for other products. Yet infants are particularly susceptible to these toxins, which can impair their neurological development and have lifelong impacts on their ability to earn a living and avoid criminal behavior.

"No level of exposure to these metals has been shown to be safe in vulnerable infants," Linda McCauley, dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, told The New York Times.

The report was published Thursday by the House Oversight Committee's subcommittee on economic and consumer policy. It was prompted by a 2019 report from Healthy Babies Bright Futures, which found that heavy metals were present in 95 percent of commercially available baby foods.

"What they did was take food off store shelves and test it. We said we should go straight to the companies and ask for their materials," subcommittee Chair Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) told The Washington Post.

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The FDA has currently only set one legal limit for toxic metals in baby food, according to The New York Times. It requires that rice cereal not have more than 100 ppb arsenic. However, many of the ingredients tested far exceeded the legal limits set by the government for drinking water. The FDA limits for bottled water are 10 ppb inorganic arsenic, 5 ppb lead, and 5 ppb cadmium, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has mandated there be no more than 2 ppb mercury in drinking water.

"The test results of baby foods and their ingredients eclipse those levels: including results up to 91 times the arsenic level, up to 177 times the lead level, up to 69 times the cadmium level, and up to 5 times the mercury level," the report authors wrote.


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