Lead. Arsenic. Cadmium. Mercury. Two recent congressional reports have found these dangerous heavy metals in baby food—both conventional and organic.
These are not ingredients we want in our food, and especially in our babies’ food. The science is clear on this. These heavy metals harm our children’s health and cause damage to our babies’ developing brains.
As a mom to four growing children, this issue hits home. I live in Southern New Jersey with my husband and four children, including Josie, my youngest child who just recently turned two. Josie is a voracious eater who wants meals and snacks coming her way at all times.
The FDA is currently considering a plan to take action to reduce heavy metals in baby food—the Closer to Zero Plan. This is a good first step, but the plan isn’t strong enough to protect our babies.
Feeding my youngest, alongside my three older boys, is a daily challenge, and like so many parents, I am often tempted to reach for what is most convenient in our kitchen or pantry. Like so many parents, I spent years assuming that baby food was safe. But now I understand that there is a shameful lack of standards to protect our babies from heavy metals in their food. This must end.
No parent should ever have to hold up a jar and ask herself, “How safe is this baby food?” We need to take action on heavy metals in baby food—and we absolutely need the FDA to make it easier for parents to nourish their babies without unknowingly putting them at risk.
It’s high time we parents are given the protections from toxic metals that we thought we already had.