When the first jars of pureed fruits and vegetables for infants and toddlers appeared on the American market in the late 1920s, parents were stoked. They saw commercial baby food as a healthy, convenient, and modern alternative to homemade meals. By the 1950s, up to 90% of children across the country were fed store baby food by virtue of the emergence of more and more companies.
However, over the last decades, many baby food manufacturers have begun showing a blatant disregard for the wellbeing of children, placing financial profit over their health and safety. Due to their unethical practices, today, most commercial baby food contains mind-blowing concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.
Exposure to heavy metals can take a major toll on the neurodevelopment of children being able to cause autism and other similar disorders and problems, including a lower IQ, behavioral abnormalities, learning disabilities, cognitive damage, ADHD, and speech, visual, and hearing impairment. Luckily, there are practical ways parents can use to minimize the content of heavy metals in their children’s diet.
How Serious Is the Problem of Heavy Metals in Baby Food?
In February 2021, a congressional report exposing four popular baby food manufacturers was released, which sparked outrage in parents throughout the US. The Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy found that baby food companies exceeded the safe limit of arsenic by 91 times, of lead, by 177 times, of cadmium, by 69 times, and of mercury, by 5 times.
Before listing some of the appalling discoveries of the congressional report, please keep in mind the safe limits for these heavy metals – 10 ppb for arsenic, 5 ppb for cadmium, 5 ppb for lead, and 2 ppb for mercury. The following are some of the most disturbing findings of the investigation:
- Hain Celestial Group, which manufactures baby food under the brand Earth’s Best Organic, was found using ingredients with 352 ppb lead
- Beech-Nut, which manufactures infant and toddler food under the same brand, allowed products with over 900 ppb arsenic to go on the shelves
- Hain Celestial Group was found to use ingredients containing up to 260 ppb cadmium to make baby food
- Nurture, which sells baby food under the brand HappyBABY, allowed products with 10 ppb mercury to go on the market
Initially, seven baby food companies had been asked to participate in the investigation, but three, namely Campbell, Sprout Organic Foods, and Walmart, refused. The Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy expressed serious concerns regarding the baby food manufactured by these companies, believing that their lack of cooperation was meant to obscure the presence of higher levels of heavy metals in their products than those found in the baby food of their competitors.
A second congressional report on baby food was made public in September 2021. The investigators discovered that Hain Celestial Group had grossly underestimated the content of heavy metals in its baby food – the concentration of heavy metals was 28% to 93% higher in the finished products.
Exposure to Heavy Metals from Baby Food May Contribute to Autism
Contrary to popular belief, not all heavy metals are bad for our health. For example, iron, zinc, and selenium are essential nutrients that promote the good functioning of our bodies. Still, some heavy metals are highly toxic, including arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. Once these heavy metals enter the body, they act as neurotoxins – substances that wreak havoc on the brain and nervous system. Children are more prone to experiencing the impact of heavy metals than adults because they are still developing and have a greater nutrient uptake by their gastrointestinal tract. In other words, their bodies will absorb a higher concentration of heavy metals from baby food.
Heavy metals have a chronic effect on the nervous system of children. Their accumulation in the blood creates free radicals, which generate oxidative stress. Oxidative stress damages proteins, DNA, and cells. Many children with autism share a chronic flaw in the body’s natural defenses against free radicals. One out of 44 children born in the US in or after 2010 will develop autism. The prevalence of autism has increased by approximately 1% since 2007. While innovative, cutting-edge diagnostic methods have contributed to this, plenty of baby food companies allow tremendous amounts of heavy metals in their products might be another contributing factor.
4 Easy and Practical Ways to Minimize the Content of Heavy Metals in Your Baby’s Diet
Fortunately, parents can take measures to significantly lower the content of arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury in their children’s diet. These are four effective, practical, and easy steps you can take to ensure your child is not exposed to high concentrations of dangerous heavy metals from the food that is nourishing and contributes to healthy growth and development.
1. Breastfeed Your Baby for at Least One Year
While over 80% of American mothers breastfeed their babies, fewer than one-third keep doing so for at least a year, as pediatricians recommend. Breastfeeding your infant for at least one year delays their need for commercial baby food. Furthermore, it entails numerous health benefits for your baby, such as a reduced risk of obesity, diabetes, asthma, sudden infant death syndrome, pulmonary infections, stomach bugs, and ear infections. It also implies health benefits for you as a mother – breastfeeding will lower your risk of breast cancer, diabetes, ovarian cancer, and high blood pressure.
2. Avoid Rice Whenever Possible
Notorious for having a high level of arsenic, rice can absorb up to 20 times more of this heavy metal from the soil and water than other crops. So, it is best to feed your little one rice just occasionally. When you prepare it, cook it in plenty of water and drain it off when the meal is ready. You can also replace regular rice with sushi or basmati rice, as these types contain less arsenic.
3. Pick the Fish You Give Your Toddler Carefully
Although fish is a wonderful source of lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids, some contain high levels of mercury. The fish you should avoid feeding your toddler when it is time to introduce solid foods includes orange roughy, ling, swordfish, ray, king mackerel, tilefish, barramundi, gemfish, cod, and southern bluefin tuna. On the flip side, the safer alternatives are plaice, anchovies, haddock, catfish, flounder, mullet, pollock, and salmon.
4. Use These Five Great Tips from Healthy Babies Bright Futures Study
In 2019, the non-profit organization Healthy Babies Bright Futures published the study “What’s in My Baby Food?”, which found that 95% of the baby food on the American market contains at least one heavy metal. This is the study that prompted the first congressional investigation. In addition to discussing their findings, researchers also included a list of alternatives to commercial baby food for parents, which, if used, can reduce the content of heavy metals in children’s diet substantially:
- replace teething biscuits with frozen bananas to reduce the heavy metal content by 91%
- replace rice cereal with wheat, barley, and other cereals to lower the heavy metal content by 93%
- replace sweet potatoes with other fresh vegetables to reduce the heavy metal content by 73%
- replace fruit juice with plain water to lower the heavy metal content by 68%
Finally, if you are a parent who is still at a loss about what baby food is the safest for your child, you can now request free products by virtue of the Toxic Baby Food Replacement Initiative. The campaign aims to offer parents baby food manufactured by ethical companies that test for heavy metals and other harmful contaminants. To request the products you need, all you have to do is fill out the form at the bottom of the page, and someone will contact you shortly.
About the Author
As the Chief Financial Officer at Environmental Litigation Group, PC – a law firm specializing in toxic exposure – Jonathan Sharp is responsible for managing firm assets, financial analysis, and the collection and distribution of the funds. The law firm is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and assists parents whose children developed autism due to having been fed tainted baby food.
