94% of Pre-Packaged and Homemade US Baby Foods Contain Toxic Heavy Metals: Study

Almost all of the baby foods that parents in the United States feed their children, whether purchased at the store or prepared at home, contain detectable amounts of toxic heavy metals that can impair brain development, according to new research published Thursday, which led to renewed demands for improved regulation.

A previous study by Health Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) found that 95% of pre-packaged baby foods tested were contaminated with toxic heavy metals including lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury, sparking a congressional investigation and conversations about whether homemade baby foods are a safer alternative.

HBBF “found no evidence to suggest that homemade baby food has lower heavy metal levels than store-bought brands,” lead author Jane Houlihan, the alliance’s research director, and Charlotte Brody, its national director, wrote in their newly released report.

The alliance’s key findings include:

• 94% of all food samples we tested contained detectable amounts of toxic heavy metals: 94% of store-bought baby food and 94% of homemade purees and family brand foods.
• Arsenic is heavily present in rice cakes and crisped rice cereal. They contain higher levels of inorganic arsenic (the toxic form of arsenic) than any other foods tested. Both stand out as foods to avoid for children and adults alike.
• Lead, arsenic, and cadmium levels are high in some fresh carrots and sweet potatoes. We recommend that parents vary the source by choosing from different brands, varieties, or stores each week to avoid accidentally serving a high-metal source often.
• The 10 most heavily contaminated foods consumed by babies, beginning with the highest, are: rice cakes, crisped rice cereal, rice-based puffs, brown rice, rice-based teething biscuits and rusks, white rice, raisins, teething crackers (non-rice), granola bar with raisins, and oat-ring cereal.
• The 10 least contaminated foods consumed by babies, beginning with the lowest, are: bananas, grits, baby food brand meats, butternut squash, lamb, apples, pork, eggs, oranges, and watermelon.

Moreover, Mark Corkins, chair of the Committee on Nutrition for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), considers Thursday’s study to be a logical follow-up to the one that HBBF conducted in 2019—after which many experts encouraged parents to switch to homemade options.

Besides, with the publication of its new report, HBBF has “come back and said… ‘We sent shoppers into all sorts of stores, and guess what? The food you’re making it from is high in heavy metals as well,'” Corkins told The Hill.

“The source is going to be the same no matter what,” he continued. “It’s going to be farms and produce grown in dirt and water that’s the same dirt and water that the other produce is grown in.”

In a statement released in response to the report, the AAP reiterated its call for “swift, comprehensive federal regulation of heavy metals in foods that babies eat.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org.