While heavy metals such as arsenic , cadmium , lead , and mercury are naturally present in soil and water and can easily make their way into crops , it is the responsibility of baby food manufacturers to ensure that the products they put on the market are safe for consumption . However , numerous companies act unethically and place financial profit over children ’ s health by skipping the essential step of testing their ingredients and finished products for toxic metals .
To address this acute issue , the US Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) came up with the Closer To Zero plan , which reduces exposure to heavy metals and other toxic elements from infant and toddler food to as low as possible . Nevertheless , the agency ’ s strategy has been criticized by many , including a coalition of 24 Attorneys General , for being too lengthy and for failing to expedite its timelines . Indeed , the Closer To Zero plan is quite problematic , as , for once , it would officially set limits for arsenic , cadmium , lead , and mercury only in 2024 or even later . and mercury 2 ppb . With these maximum allowable limits in mind , let us look at what the subcommittee found . Perhaps one of the most shocking discoveries is that Beech-Nut used ingredients with over 900 ppb arsenic . Furthermore , Hain also allowed ingredients containing 309 ppb arsenic to go into the manufacturing of baby food .
As for cadmium , Beech-Nut was found to use ingredients with as much as 344 ppb , whereas some of Gerber ’ s carrots had roughly 87 ppb cadmium . Lead , one of the most powerful and dangerous heavy metals , was lurking in the ingredients Nurture used in a whopping concentration of 641 ppb , while Beech-Nut used ingredients with over 880 ppb lead . Lastly , most companies admitted to testing for mercury very rarely , if at all . As we can see , these results eclipse the safe limits for heavy metals , including results up to 91 times the arsenic limit , up to 177 times the lead limit , and up to 69 times the cadmium limit .
The Congressional Reports ’ Distressing And Unexpected Findings
The investigation findings led by the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy are unsettling . Seven major baby food companies were asked to participate by sharing with the subcommittee their internal testing policies , documentation regarding what they did with the ingredients and finished products that had concentrations of heavy metals that were too high , and test results for ingredients and finished products . These baby food companies are Beech-Nut Nutrition Company , Gerber , Hain Celestial Group , Nurture , Sprout Organic Foods , Walmart , and Campbell . Nonetheless , the latter three outright refused to collaborate with the investigators .
Before revealing some of the appalling findings of the congressional report , it is crucial to be aware of what the safe limits for the four heavy metals of concern are . Accordingly , for arsenic , the safe limit is 10 ppb ( parts per billion ), for cadmium 5 ppb , for lead 5 ppb ,
The FDA ’ s Closer To Zero Plan : Another Failed Inaction To Set Standards For Baby Food
Now , there are no safe limits set by the FDA for heavy metals in baby food , except for arsenic . Even so , the safe limitation applies only to infant rice cereal and is 100 ppb , which is ten times over the safe limit recommended by most health agencies . However , in response to the pressure of authorities and parents , the FDA came up with the Closer To Zero plan in April of last year , which is meant to minimize the concentration of the four heavy metals of concern in baby food . The strategy has four steps , and , in addition to being unnecessarily lengthy , it also has multiple other shortcomings .
The first two steps of the Closer To Zero plan , “ evaluate the scientific basis for action levels ” and “ propose action levels ,” are redundant since the safe limit for each toxic metal is well known from reputable medical studies and reliable information from health agencies worldwide . In fact , only the third step entails a practical action — assessing the “ achievability and feasibility of action levels ” — as the FDA must ensure that all baby food companies have