COLUMBUS, Ohio — Lead, inorganic arsenic, cadmium and mercury are heavy metals that research shows can cause damage to a baby’s brain. Yet multiple studies have found that 95% of baby food sold in stores has trace levels of heavy metals.
“Problems related to lead poisoning can last the child's whole life. Even at low levels, lead can lower IQ, cause attention disorders, make it difficult for a child to pay attention in school, delay growth, impair hearing and more,” said a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Health.
For parents, the problem is complex because you can’t shop your way out of the issue. Studies show that making homemade baby food is no more safe than buying it from the store.
And there’s no home test or warning labels to let parents know what’s in the jar they're feeding their newborn.
“About 10,000 babies begin eating solid food every day," said Jane Houlihan.
Houligan is the author of the groundbreaking study published in 2019 called “What’s in my baby’s food.” The study found “Four of seven infant rice cereals tested contained inorganic arsenic (the toxic form of arsenic) in excess of FDA’s proposed action level of 100 parts per billion (ppb). Eighty-three percent of baby foods tested had more lead than the 1-ppb limit endorsed by public health advocates, and one of every five foods tested had over 10 times that amount.”
Parent Sara Lewis of Columbus is the mother of a 9-month-old boy. She says she was aware of the heavy metal issues associated with baby food, but she didn’t learn it from her doctor.
“I was never told any of this from my pediatrician,” she says.
When 10TV visited her home, she was making her own baby food because she believed it’s cleaner than those bought from the store.
She says she avoids things like sweet potatoes, carrots and rice milk because they contain more heavy metals than other foods.
“I do a lot of apples, pears, some bananas and avocados. I can make a pouch with cleaner better ingredients for around 75 cents,” Lewis said.
“The important thing to know about baby food is that nearly all contain heavy metals so babies are being exposed at every meal and the exposures add up day to day,” Houlihan said.
Dr. Hannah Hays is Chief of Toxicology for Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She says parents need to be aware of heavy metals in baby food.
“As a parent, I would be concerned about avoiding all sources of lead and heavy metals and that does include baby foods. These metals are neurotoxins and children exposed to these metals are at risk for permanent neurological and behavioral problems. In Ohio, 20% of children that we see with lead are from other sources than lead-based paints," said Hays. That possibly includes baby food.
10TV contacted the FDA for a comment about what it’s doing to reduce heavy metals in baby food.
“The FDA is taking a strategic, long-term iterative approach to reducing childhood dietary exposure to lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury through the FDA’s Closer to Zero Initiative. The FDA’s goal is to reduce dietary exposure to environmental contaminants to as low as possible while maintaining access to nutritious foods. We have prioritized foods commonly eaten by babies and young children because their smaller body sizes and metabolism make them more vulnerable to the harmful effects of these contaminants. The FDA is committed to a science-driven, transparent, and iterative process that will include active stakeholder engagement and public sharing of data and information. In June 2024, the FDA issued its mid-year update of the Foods Program Guidance Agenda, which communicates, among other things, our plans to issue final guidance for action levels for lead in foods intended for babies and young children in 2024. We also plan to issue draft action levels for arsenic and cadmium in foods intended for babies and young children this year, and we intend to finalize our draft guidance on action levels for lead in juices in 2025 (the draft guidance was issued in 2022). While issuing the final guidance for action levels for lead in foods intended for babies and young children," the FDA said.
Houlihan says she supports the FDA's proposal to improve their safety programs. She also took issue with the agency's lack of enforcement.
The FDA was grilled during a congressional hearing earlier this year about heavy metals in baby food.
“Requiring industry to test finished products and giving FDA authority to mandate recalls of unsafe foods are basic improvements that could have prevented the recent problems of children being harmed by unsafe cinnamon applesauce and infant formula. But what’s also needed is an FDA that is willing and able to tackle food safety problems effectively and quickly. The actions FDA has taken to date are not strong enough to reduce children’s exposures to heavy metals in a meaningful way," she said.
10TV reached out to the Infant Nutrition Council of America for comment. A spokesperson tells 10TV, “INCA members support the FDA’s Closer to Zero Initiative. Although it does not currently include infant formula, INCA members already voluntarily test for heavy metals in infant formula and comply with existing heavy metals limits set by international standard-setting organizations such as CODEX.”
So what can parents do? Houlihan suggests rotating your baby food so that you’re feeding your child the same food multiple times a day.
“There are no studies that I’ve seen that shows that it's a definite way to minimize exposure but it makes sense,” Hays said.
Hays said parents who are concerned about lead in their child’s blood should get tested. She says parents need to be aware of the warning signs.
“The most common thing I hear parents reports is speech delay, abdominal pain, constipation, fussiness,” she said.
Experts say avoid feeding your child sweet potatoes, which are high in lead and cadmium. Rice-based products are also a concern.
“Infant rice cereal has high levels of arsenic,” says Houlihan.
The Baby Food Safety Act of 2024, introduced in May, would direct the FDA to develop maximum allowable limits for toxic heavy metals found in baby food more broadly. It would set standards for testing of the final food products and allow the FDA to monitor these standards through access to the records of food suppliers and manufacturers.
Houlihan says while it sounds good, she questions the FDA’s ability to carry it out.
“The FDA is chronically understaffed and under-funded and sometimes they are glacially slow and bureaucratic. They don't jump quickly when problems occur,” she says.
As for Lewis, she says she’s sticking with homemade baby food for her son Jonah, which she believes is the way to reduce heavy metals in his food.