February 4, 2021

Four leading baby food manufacturers knowingly sold baby foods containing high levels of toxic heavy metals, according to internal company documents included in a Congressional investigation published on Thursday.

"There are dangerous levels of toxic metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in baby food at levels that exceed what experts and regulatory bodies say are permissible," said Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, which conducted the investigation, signed by Democratic members.

Krishnamoorthi said the spreadsheets provided by the manufacturers were "shocking" because they showed evidence that some baby foods contained hundreds of parts per billion (ppb) of dangerous metals. "However, we know that in many cases, we should not have more than single-digit parts per billion of any of these metals in any of our food," he told CNN.

Chemicals of Concern for Children

Arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury are among the top 10 most concerning chemicals for babies and children according to the World Health Organization.

As natural elements, they are found in the soil in which crops are grown and, therefore, cannot be avoided. However, some farming fields and regions contain more toxic levels than others, partly due to the excessive use of pesticides containing metals and ongoing industrial pollution.

"There was a time when we used metals as a predominant pesticide for many years, assuming it was safe," said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, head of environmental pediatrics at NYU Langone.

All these heavy metals have been linked to cancer, chronic diseases, and neurotoxic effects, but it is the devastating damage that can be done to a developing baby's brain that makes baby food toxicity such a critical issue.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to establish minimum levels for heavy metals in most baby foods. The agency has set a standard of 100 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic for rice cereal, but even that level is considered too high for baby safety, critics say, especially since the FDA has already set a much lower standard of 10 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic for bottled water.

From conception to the age of two, babies are extremely sensitive to neurotoxic chemicals, said Jane Houlihan, national director of science and health at Healthy Babies Bright Futures, a coalition of advocates committed to reducing babies' exposure to neurotoxic chemicals.

"Their brain is forming rapidly, so when they are exposed to metals that can disrupt those natural processes, the impacts range from behavioral problems to aggression, loss of IQ, and all kinds of cognitive and behavioral deficits that can persist throughout life," Houlihan said.

"Per pound, babies receive the highest dose of these heavy metals compared to other parts of the population," she said. "So the consequences are severe."

Healthy Babies Bright Futures published a report in 2019 that found toxic metals in 95% of randomly selected baby foods tested from supermarket shelves; this exposure was the "inspiration" for the subcommittee's work, Krishnamoorthi told CNN.

Internal Information

Internal testing by Gerber, Beech-Nut Nutrition Company, Nurture, Inc. (which sells Happy Baby products), and Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (which sells Earth's Best Organic), showed levels of heavy metals far exceeding the limits set for bottled water by the FDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, found Congressional investigators.

The ingredients in baby food in certain products contained up to 91 times the level of inorganic arsenic, up to 177 times the level of lead, up to 69 times the level of cadmium, and up to five times the level of mercury allowed in bottled water, according to the report. Despite this, the companies approved the sale of those products.

It didn't matter whether the baby food was organic or not, the subcommittee found: the levels of toxic metals were still high.

CNN reached out to the four companies for a response before the report was published, which none of them had seen yet.

Gerber told CNN in a statement via email, "All of our foods meet our safety and quality standards, which are among the strictest not only in the U.S. but in the world. Gerber foods are supported by rigorous oversight at every level of the growing and production process. Where no government standards currently exist, we develop our own rigorous standards by applying the latest food safety guidelines.

"As stated in our 2019 response to the Congressional Inquiry, the elements in question occur naturally in the soil and water where crops are grown. To minimize their presence, we take several steps, including: prioritizing growing locations based on climate and soil composition; approving fields before planting crops based on soil testing; rotating crops according to the best available science; and testing products, water, and other ingredients."

Beech-Nut Nutrition said, "We established heavy metal testing standards 35 years ago, and we continuously review and strengthen them whenever possible." The company also said it tested "every batch of fruits, vegetables, rice, and other ingredients for up to 255 contaminants to confirm that each shipment meets our strict quality standards. If the ingredients do not meet our standards, we reject them."

Happy Baby, which is part of Happy Family Organics, responded that the company "does not sell any product that has not been rigorously tested and has no products on the market with contaminant levels outside of FDA-established limits.

"Many of the results we provided as part of this 2019 report were based on a small portion of our portfolio and are generally not representative of our entire product range on the shelves today. Additionally, the data points include two outliers of high lead results that were not replicable in our testing but were included for integrity and transparency."

Hain responded after the report was published with the following statement: "We are disappointed that the Subcommittee report examined outdated data and does not reflect our current practices. Earth's Best has consistently supported efforts to reduce natural heavy metals from our food supply and we remain ready to assist in the Subcommittee's efforts toward that goal."

Cooperation Failure

Three additional baby food companies, according to Congressional investigators, did not fully cooperate with the subcommittee’s investigation: Sprout Organic Foods; Walmart, which sells Parent's Choice baby food; and Campbell Soup Company, which sells the Plum Organics brand of baby food products.

"The Subcommittee is very concerned that their lack of cooperation may be concealing the presence of even higher levels of toxic heavy metals in their baby food products than in their competitors' products," the report stated.

CNN reached out via email and phone multiple times to Sprout Organic Foods and Walmart, which sells Parent's Choice, but received no comments before the publication of this story.

A spokesperson for Campbell responded: "For over 150 years, Campbell has placed the safety of consumers, especially our youngest consumers, above all. That’s why we fully cooperated with the House Oversight Subcommittee’s baby food review. We responded promptly to their questions and never refused any requests made to us."

The subcommittee disagreed with Campbell's assessment.

"Instead of providing substantial information, Campbell provided a spreadsheet stating that each of its products 'meets the criteria,'” wrote the subcommittee. "Campbell's evasion is concerning, as even limited independent testing has revealed the presence of toxic heavy metals in their baby food."

A "Secret" Presentation to the FDA

The subcommittee's report also stated that Hain Celestial Group, Inc., the maker of Earth's Best Organic, had made a "secret slideshow presentation" on August 1, 2019, to FDA regulators revealing "greater risks of toxic heavy metals in baby food."

The slides showed the FDA that Hain routinely tested only the ingredients found in baby food for heavy metals, and did not examine the finished product that would be sold, according to the report.

However, in "100% of the baby food tested by Hain, the levels of inorganic arsenic were higher in the finished baby food than the company estimated based on individual ingredient tests. Inorganic arsenic was between 28% and 93% higher in the finished products," the subcommittee wrote.

"This presentation made it clear that ingredient testing is inadequate and that only testing the finished product can measure the true danger posed by baby food."

Hain sent this response to CNN: "The meeting was not 'secret.' We provided the document to the Subcommittee to be helpful. The purpose of the meeting was to determine a way forward to expand our testing program to include more raw ingredients and reduce the overall levels of metals in our finished product."

"After the meeting, we took several steps to reduce heavy metal levels in our finished products, including discontinuing the use of brown rice in our mostly rice-based products, changing other ingredients, and conducting additional finished product testing before shipment."

No New Action by the FDA

The FDA, under the Trump administration, did not take any new action in response to the presentation, according to the investigation: "To this day, baby foods containing toxic heavy metals do not carry labels or warnings for parents. Manufacturers are free to test only the ingredients or, in the vast majority of baby foods, not test at all."

CNN contacted the FDA with a series of detailed questions about the issues raised in the report and received the following statement.

The FDA said, in part, "Sampling of infant rice cereal showed that since 2016, manufacturers have made significant progress in reducing arsenic in infant rice cereal products, demonstrating that this level of action is achievable by the industry."

"Furthermore," said the FDA, "good manufacturing practices, such as sourcing rice and other ingredients with lower levels of inorganic arsenic, will continue to help manufacturers produce baby rice foods with inorganic arsenic levels below the action level."

Later, an FDA official told CNN that the agency is reviewing the findings of the subcommittee's report.

Revealing Internal Documents

Nurture (Happy Baby):

Of the four companies involved in the investigation, only Nurture tested the finished product (the actual food that babies would eat) after all the ingredients had been added.

Internal documents from Nurture show that the company set a target threshold of 100 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic in its finished baby food product. Next to that target, the actual arsenic levels found in the food were listed.

Despite the fact that arsenic levels in the products were routinely tested above the set target—120 parts per billion, 130 parts per billion, 160 parts per billion, even up to 180 parts per billion—documents showed that Nurture continued to mark the products as ready for sale.

Lead, cadmium, and mercury levels were also often high, according to the subcommittee’s report. The documents showed that Nurture sold Happy Baby baby food with lead test results up to 500 parts per billion and 641 parts per billion.

Nurture also sold "a finished baby food product containing 10 ppb (parts per billion) of mercury, and two others containing 9.8 and 7.3 ppb (parts per billion). A level of 10 ppb (parts per billion) is five times higher than the EPA standard of 2 ppb (parts per billion) for drinking water," the subcommittee wrote.

Hain (Earth's Best Organic):

Hain, along with Gerber and Beech-Nut, did not test their finished products, the subcommittee found.

Instead, Hain tested various ingredients added to the final product, such as cinnamon, blueberry puree, and a vitamin blend used to boost nutrient levels, called "vitamin premix," which contained 223 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic in the test.

No lead level is safe for children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics; however, Hain used ingredients that contained up to 352 parts per billion of lead, internal documents showed.

As for cadmium, Hain used about 102 ingredients that showed more than 20 parts per billion of cadmium, with some showing much higher levels, up to 260 parts per billion of cadmium. There are no documents illustrating mercury levels in Hain's Earth's Best Organic baby food, as the company does not test for it.

Beech-Nut Baby Food:

Beech-Nut made baby food with ingredients that tested "up to 913.4 ppb (parts per billion) of arsenic," the investigation found, including a "crumb softener" additive that contained up to 710.90 parts per billion of arsenic.

Beech-Nut also used "many ingredients with high lead content, including 483 that contained more than 5 ppb (parts per billion) of lead," the subcommittee wrote.

Cadmium levels should not exceed 5 parts per billion in drinking water, according to the FDA; however, Beech-Nut had some ingredients that reached levels of 344.55 parts per billion. Like Hain, Beech-Nut does not test for mercury.

Gerber Baby Food:

Gerber only tests ingredients, not the finished product, the subcommittee said. Some of the ingredients used in Gerber's baby food, such as "conventional sweet potatoes," tested up to 48 parts per billion of lead.

Internal documents also showed that the baby food giant was using ingredients with high arsenic content, the subcommittee said, "including 67 batches of rice flour that had tested over 90 ppb (parts per billion) of inorganic arsenic."

The company rarely conducts mercury testing, the subcommittee said, but cadmium levels in 75% of Gerber’s carrots exceeded the recommended 5 parts per billion, with some reaching up to 87 parts per billion, according to the report.

Legislation May Be Needed

The subcommittee's report was clear on what should be done. Rather than setting limits for one food at a time, the FDA should standardize maximum levels for each toxic metal that can harm a baby's developing brain and apply them to all foods.

Mandatory testing of any baby food product before it reaches store shelves should be required, the subcommittee recommended. Manufacturers should no longer be allowed to test only ingredients.

Substitutes should be found for any ingredient that exceeds the recommended limits, and if that is not possible, the food or ingredient should not be used in baby food, the subcommittee said. Take rice, for example, which is a major source of inorganic arsenic exposure for babies.

"Every baby food manufacturer knows that we in Congress are not going to sit by and accept the status quo any longer," said Krishnamoorthi.

"I hope companies will begin voluntarily taking actions, such as testing their foods more thoroughly and appropriately, and gradually phasing out certain ingredients we know are problematic right now," he said.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/04/health/baby-food-heavy-metal-toxins-wellness/index.html