Title: Heavy Metals in Baby Food: What You Need to Know - Consumer Reports
Headings: Heavy Metals in Baby Food: What You Need to Know
Heavy Metals in Baby Food: What You Need to Know
Consumer Reports’ testing shows concerning levels of arsenic, cadmium, and lead in many popular baby and toddler foods
How Heavy Metals Can Harm Children
Long-Term Risks
What CR’s Tests Found
A Largely Unregulated Market
What Manufacturers Say
Assessing the Risks
A Loss for Public Safety
How Heavy Metals Get Into Food
Organic Isn’t Safer
What Needs to Change
What Manufacturers Should Do
More on Food Safety
What Parents Can Do
Where We Found Heavy Metals
Meals and Entrées
LESS CONCERN
Gerber Lil' Entrées Chicken & Brown Rice With Peas & Corn
Earth's Best Organic Chicken & Brown Rice
Earth's Best Turkey, Red Beans & Brown Rice
Gerber Chicken & Rice
Gerber Turkey & Rice
Sprout Organic Baby Food Garden Vegetables Brown Rice With Turkey
Gerber Lil' Meals White Turkey Stew With Rice & Vegetables 1
Fruits and Vegetables
Beech-Nut Classics Apple, Pear & Banana
Beech-Nut Naturals Carrot, Broccoli, Apple & Strawberry 1
Beech-Nut Organic Just Apple & Green Beans
Beech-Nut Organic Peas, Green Beans, and Avocado
Gerber Grabbers Strong Veggies, Broccoli, Carrot, Banana, Pineapple
Gerber Organic Peas, Carrots & Beets 1
Happy Baby Organics Purple Carrots, Bananas, Avocados & Quinoa
Gerber Carrot, Pear & Blackberry
Gerber Carrots Peas & Corn With Lil' Bits 1
Plum Organics Just Sweet Potato Organic Baby Food
Beech-Nut Classics Sweet Potatoes
Earth's Best Organic Sweet Potatoes, 1st Stage
Cereals
LESS CONCERN
Gerber Breakfast Buddies Hot Cereal With Real Fruit, Apple Cinnamon 1
Beech-Nut Complete Rice Single Grain Baby Cereal
Happy Baby Organics Organic Probiotic Baby Cereal
Beech-Nut Complete Oatmeal Whole Grain Baby Cereal
Beech-Nut Organic Oatmeal Whole Grain Baby Cereal
Earth's Best Organic Whole Grain Oatmeal Cereal
Gerber Oatmeal Single Grain Cereal
Gerber Organic Oatmeal Cereal
Earth's Best Organic Whole Grain Rice Cereal
Snack Foods
Beech-Nut Quinoa Crispies, Vanilla
Ella's Kitchen Apples + Strawberries Nibbly Fingers
Gerber Graduates Puffs Cereal Snack, Strawberry Apple
Serving size: 0.5 cup
Gerber Lil' Beanies Baked Snack Made With Beans, White Cheddar & Broccoli 1
Gerber Lil' Crunchies Baked Corn Snack Mild Cheddar
Gerber Lil' Crunchies Baked Corn Snack Vanilla Maple
Serving size: 16 pieces
Gerber Organic Puffs, Puffed Grain Snack, Apple
Gerber Graduates Arrowroot Cookies
Plum Organics Little Yums Organic Teething Wafers, Pumpkin & Banana 1
Gerber Graduates Cinnamon Graham Animal Crackers
Gerber Graduates Banana Cookies
Baby Mum-Mum Banana Rice Rusks
Baby Mum-Mum Vegetable Rice Rusks
Gerber Graduates Waffle Wheels Puffed Grain Snack, Banana Cream
Gerber Graduates Lil' Biscuits Vanilla Wheat
Gerber Graduates Cereal Bars, Strawberry Banana
Parent's Choice (Walmart) Little Puffs Cereal Snack, Strawberry Apple
Plum Organics Mighty Sticks Whole Grain Snacks, Berry Beet 1
Sprout Organic Quinoa Puffs Baby Cereal Snack, Apple Kale
Earth's Best Organic Sunny Days Snack Bars, Strawberry
Happy Baby Organics Superfood Puffs, Apple & Broccoli
Happy Baby Organics Superfood Puffs, Purple Carrot & Blueberry
Trusted Advice Delivered Straight To Your Inbox
Jesse Hirsch
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Content: Exposure to even small amounts of these heavy metals at an early age may increase the risk of several health problems, especially lower IQ and behavior problems, and have been linked to autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. “The effects of early exposure to heavy metals can have long-lasting impacts that may be impossible to reverse,” says Victor Villarreal, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of educational psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio who has researched the effects of heavy metals on childhood development. For example, researchers at Duke University looked at 565 adults who had their lead levels measured as children. Those with high childhood lead readings had IQ levels 4.25 points lower, on average, than those with lower childhood lead levels. Exposure to inorganic arsenic may also affect IQ, according to a recent Columbia University study of third- through fifth-graders in Maine. Students who had been exposed to arsenic in drinking water had IQ levels 5 to 6 points lower, on average, than students who had not been exposed. Long-Term Risks
The risks from heavy metals grow over time, in part because they accumulate in the kidneys and other internal organs. “These toxins can remain in your body for years,” says Tunde Akinleye, a chemist in Consumer Reports’ Food Safety Division who led our testing. Regularly consuming even small amounts over a long period of time may raise the risk of bladder, lung, and skin cancer; cognitive and reproductive problems;