Parents are encouraged to be on alert after a new congressional report released on Thursday by a subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
The report notes that some baby foods are contaminated with "significant levels" of heavy metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium.
These metals could have an “irreversible” effect on brain development. The report, per the New York Times, added that it can even lead to behavioral impairment and death.
“The Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization have declared them dangerous to human health, particularly to babies and children, who are most vulnerable to their neurotoxic effects,” the report said.
Back in 2019, the committee requested internal documents from seven of the largest baby food manufacturers in America: Beech-Nut, Hain (Earth's Best Organic), Nurture (Happy Family Organics/HappyBABY), Campbell (Plum Organics), Sprout Organic Foods, Gerber, and Walmart (Parent's Choice).
They drew data from the four responding companies: Nurture, Hain, Gerber, and Beech-Nut.
Walmart, which sells Parents’ Choice and Parent’s Choice Organic products, Sprout Organic Food, and Campbell Soup Company, maker of Plum Organics baby foods declined to report.
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, Democrat of Illinois, who is chairman of the subcommittee, said that the decision not to respond “raises the concern that perhaps they have evidence of even higher metallic content in their baby foods, compared to their competitors.” The report notes that the companies rarely test foods before sending them to store shelves.
Three metals -- arsenic, lead, and cadmium -- were found in foods from all the companies that did respond. Additionally, mercury was found in Nurture.
Per the report, Beech-Nut did not address the levels measured, but did reassure parents stating that “rigorous testing protocols and strict standards" are put in place for products.
Reps for Campbell and Walmart disputed the accusations, but did not provide testing data.
Gerber also said that it has several steps to minimize metals in food to prioritize the “health and safety of babies.”
The subcommittee proposed that a maximum level of toxic heavy metals in baby food must be established by the FDA, and that companies are required to test finish products for metals and put results on labels for consumers to see.
The report highlighted the FDA’s lax approach to baby foods as it currently does not set heavy metal limits on baby food aside from monitoring arsenic in rice cereal and regulating lead in bottled water, candy, and juice.
“Baby food manufacturers hold a special position of public trust. Consumers believe that they would not sell products that are unsafe. Consumers also believe that the federal government would not knowingly permit the sale of unsafe baby food,” the report said.
Gemma Hart, a spokeswoman for Nurture, assured that the metals found in products were only “trace amounts” and similarly found in soil and water.
And while the report noted that heavy metals do occur naturally in some grains/vegetables, the amounts can vary and shift depending on things like enzymes, vitamins, and mineral mixes, which can be heavily tainted with metals.
Harsher criticisms were leveled by the subcommittee at the companies that didn't respond, as the group voiced its "[great] concern" that those companies "might be obscuring the presence of even higher levels of toxic heavy metals in their baby food products than their competitors’ products."
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