High Levels of Lead Found in Baby Foods
High levels of toxins found in more baby nutrient brands, government written report says
Eight months later a congressional report shed lite on the consequence of toxins in baby food, a new report finds more cases of major manufacturers selling baby food with high levels of toxic heavy metals.
The written report, out Wednesday from the Firm Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, describes dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury and other toxins, which can be especially dangerous to developing babies and toddlers.
Investigators said two of Gerber's Baby Rice Cereal products contained inorganic arsenic levels over the Food and Drug Administration's limit. They said Gerber "failed to retrieve" those products.
Most of Plum Organics' products contained heavy metals too, including pop Superpuff snacks. And they said Walmart raised the corporeality of arsenic information technology allowed in its products, going from an internal company standard of 23 parts per billion to the maximum allowed by FDA of 100 parts per billion.
"No level of toxic heavy metals and exposure to them is safe for a baby," said Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, the chairman of the economic and consumer policy subcommittee.
CBS News reached out to the companies named. Gerber did not answer whether it failed to call up products, merely said it "follows a consequent and rigorous testing plan which includes regular testing of finished products" and increases testing "for products that accept a history of naturally occurring level(south) of heavy metals."
Walmart said information technology requires products to run across FDA guidelines, its specifications have always been aligned "with or below … FDA requirements," and it'south "committed to providing high quality … baby food products that are safe and nutritious."
But Krishnamoorthi wants stronger federal standards. He said he doesn't believe the issue tin be left to companies to fix.
"They haven't so far shown either the capacity or the willingness to regulate themselves. You need a federal regulator in the form of FDA to exist regulating them closely," he said.
Simply one visitor is non waiting for the government to step in.
Jay Highman, the founder and CEO of Nature's One, which makes organic baby formula, monitors everything at his manufacturing facility exterior Columbus, Ohio.
"Everything's in quarantine initially when information technology comes here," he told CBS News consumer investigative correspondent Anna Werner. "For it to come here, information technology's already gone through an elaborate qualification process."
To brand sure his products are pure, ingredients are tested for heavy metal toxins before they even reach the building.
"It's constant surveillance and testing and working with our suppliers," Highman said.
The finished products are as well periodically tested, then Highman can piece of work to keep toxins like arsenic and lead out of his products.
But about 10 years agone, it was a dissimilar story.
"We were the affiche kid for the kickoff toxins identified in sure ingredients," he said.
In 2012, Nature's One made headlines after a university study plant arsenic in its organic babe formula.
"This 2012 event was so shocking," Highman said. "Because we were in this beautiful place in our mind that nosotros're doing everything possible that we could."
His company was testing for toxins, but he says the commercial labs he used couldn't exam downwardly to the lower levels in that study. It turned out, the arsenic was in an ingredient called brown rice syrup.
Customers were furious and business organisation "went to nil."
"It was a difficult fourth dimension. It really was," Highman said. "Information technology's emotional."
That, he says, was the turning point. Since and then, he's dedicated himself to keeping toxins out.
"Without a doubt, information technology hardened our resolve to ever exist alee of it. We desire to know what's in our product," he said.
Highman said he didn't need to await for government regulations to take activity.
"It'south upward to me to have a censor for my consumer," he said. "It's cost united states of america more to go through this process, simply is at that place really any price you wouldn't pay to remove a toxin that's harmful to a child in its subsequently years or development years? I say no."
The subcommittee written report also said some samples of Beech-Nut products had more than inorganic arsenic than the FDA's limit and a subsequent call up in June was too narrow. Beech-Nut told CBS News that is incorrect and said it "proactively withdrew all those rice cereal products from supermarket shelves" and decided to stop selling infant rice products because it "is concerned near being able to consistently obtain rice flour well-beneath the FDA guidance level."
The FDA'southward "closer to zero" program would set allowable federal levels for some heavy metals, merely final guidance isn't scheduled until 2024. Krishnamoorthi wants to take some of those timelines moved up, just the agency said "it'due south crucial that measures to limit toxic elements in foods practise not have unintended consequences," such as making it more difficult for families to go foods with significant nutritional benefits.
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/baby-food-toxins-government-report/
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