Parents across the country are rightfully concerned about the dangers of heavy metals in baby foods. In order to avoid feeding your child products with substantial heavy metals, we have made a list of baby foods to avoid, based on two government reports issued this year.
The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy Committee on Oversight and Reform found the following companies have dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals in their baby food products:
Some of the companies listed above test their ingredients only for heavy metals rather than testing the finished product sold in stores. This limited testing may drastically underestimate the amount of heavy metals in baby food products. Below, we detail ingredients and baby foods to avoid, based on the government reports. As you’ll see, organic foods may also test high for heavy metals.
NOTE: According to the government reports, halfof all Hain’s finished rice products tested above 100 parts-per-billion for arsenic.
NOTE: All of Plum’s Super Puffs tested between 200 ppb and 470 ppb arsenic. More than half of all Plum products tested above 5 ppb lead, the maximum allowable amount for bottled water but there is no safe blood level of lead for children. Roughly 38% of Plum products tested above 5 ppb cadmium.
According to the second government report on baby foods, Sprout Foods’ practices “appear to be the most reckless among baby foods sellers on the market…The handful of documents that Sprout provided displayed a lax approach to testing for toxic heavy metals in its baby foods.”
Until Sprout Foods starts taking the issue of heavy metals in baby foods more seriously, we recommend avoiding Sprout Foods and to purchase baby foods from other companies not on the government report.
According to a government report, Walmart (Parent’s Choice) “does not appear to conduct any testing of its baby food products for toxic heavy metals. Instead, it sets maximum toxic heavy metal levels and asks the manufacturer of Walmart’s private label to self-certify that products meet those levels.”
In 2018, Walmart tragically loosened its heavy metals standards for baby foods, allowing 100 ppb of arsenic in rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, and puffed grains.
Until Walmart starts taking the issue of heavy metals in baby foods more seriously, we recommend avoiding all Walmart baby foods and purchase products from other companies.
Now that we have seen which baby foods to avoid, parents might be wondering which baby foods are safest for their child. One way to avoid heavy metals in baby foods is to prepare your own foods using quality ingredients. If you would like some ideas on recipes for homemade baby and toddler foods, this book is a good place to start.
Of course, many parents are extremely busy and unable to make their own baby foods. For those parents looking for safe baby food brands, please read our blog on the topic.
Consumer attorneys from the national law firm of Wisner Baum represent hundreds of parents throughout the country with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder after regularly consuming baby foods with heavy metals. We are in active litigation against the baby food manufacturers listed above for failing to warn parents about the presence of toxic metals in their foods.
If your child was diagnosed with ASD or ADHD after consuming baby foods from Gerber, Nurture (HappyBABY), Earth’s Best Organic, Beech-Nut, Walmart (Parent’s Choice), Sprout Organic Foods, or Plum Organics, you may be eligible to file a baby food lawsuit. Fill out or free and confidential case evaluation form or give us a call at (310) 207-3233 for more information.
