High levels of toxic heavy metals found in some baby food: U.S. report
By David Shepardson and Susan Heavey
Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional investigators found dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals in certain baby foods that could cause neurological damage, a House Oversight subcommittee said in a report released on Thursday in calling for new standards and testing requirements.
The panel examined baby food made by Nurture Inc, Hain Celestial Group Inc, Beech-Nut Nutrition and Gerber, a unit of Nestle, it said, adding that it was greatly concerned that Walmart Inc, Campbell Soup Co and Sprout Organic Foods refused to cooperate with the investigation.
February 4, 2021
WASHINGTON – A congressional report found many of the products made by the country’s largest commercial baby food manufacturers contain significant levels of toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, which can endanger infant neurological development.
The report released Thursday from the House Oversight Committee’s subcommittee on economic and consumer policy found heavy metals in rice cereals, sweet potato puree, juices and sweet snack puffs made by some of the most trusted names in baby food.
Gerber, Beech-Nut, HappyBABY (made by Nurture) and Earth’s Best Organic baby foods (made by Hain Celestial Group) complied with the committee’s request to submit internal testing documents.
Mercury was detected in baby food of the only responding company, Nurture, that tested for it.
Beech-Nut and Hain do not even test for mercury in baby food, while Gerber rarely tests for mercury in its baby food, according to the report. Even low levels of exposure can cause serious and often irreversible damage to brain development, added the report, which was released by the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy. (iStock)
The report recommends that the FDA set maximum levels of toxic heavy metals permitted in baby foods and require companies to test their finished products not just their various ingredients for the metals.
by: By Sandee LaMotte, CNN
Posted:
Feb 4, 2021 / 03:23 PM EST
(CNN) Four leading baby food manufacturers knowingly sold baby food that contained high levels of toxic heavy metals, according to internal company documents included in a congressional investigation released Thursday.
“Dangerous levels of toxic metals like arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury exist in baby foods at levels that exceed what experts and governing bodies say are permissible,” said Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, chair of the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, which conducted the investigation, signed by the Democratic members.
Krishnamoorthi said the spreadsheets provided by manufacturers are “shocking” because they show evidence that some baby foods contain hundreds of parts per billion of dangerous metals. “Yet we know that in a lot of cases, we should not have anything more than single digit parts per billion of any of these metals in any of our foods,”