How do we know heavy metals are in baby foods?

The Congressional Report published in February 2021 exposes this problem with respect to seven baby food brands sold in the U.S. market. The report lists the following manufacturers for having dangerously high levels of heavy metals in their products:

Gerber

Hain Celestial Group Inc. – Earth’s Best Organic

Beech-Nut Nutrition Company

Plum Organics

Walmart Inc. – Parent’s Choice

Nurture Inc. –Happy Family Organics and HappyBABY

Sprout Foods Inc.

The Healthy Babies Bright Futures Report from 2019 also details numerous other brands that have been found to contain toxic heavy metals. Parents are urged to consult both the Congressional Report and the Healthy Babies Bright Futures report to learn which brands to avoid and which brands contain minimal to no toxic heavy metals.

Why are baby foods with heavy metals on the market?

The U.S. FDA, the agency responsible for regulating the food market, has not set comprehensive maximum allowable limits of toxic heavy metals in baby food, leaving it up to the manufacturers to regulate themselves and decide how much is safe to put in baby food.

What is the government doing about heavy metals in baby food?

The FDA launched a new program known as “Closer to Zero”, wherein the FDA is working with manufacturers to ensure that baby food products contain as little toxic heavy metals as possible. This doesn’t go far enough, because if manufacturers cannot sell baby food products without toxic heavy metals in them, they shouldn’t sell them at all. Research agencies, pediatricians, and scientists are in a unanimous agreement that there is no safe level of exposure for children to these toxic heavy metals.