Making Baby Foods Safer (1)

 

In June 2017, The PediaBlog reported on the disturbing results of a study examining lead-contaminated commercial baby foods and fruit juices:

An analysis of data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2003 and 2013 shows that baby foods are a significant source of lead in the diets of the very people who can’t afford to consume any lead whatsoever. And the reason is simple: There is no safe level of lead in blood, therefore, there is no safe level of exposure to lead.

 

Of the baby foods analyzed by the Environmental Defense Fund using FDA data, 52 out of 57 food types contained lead in at least one sample. Fruit juices (grape, apple, pear, and mixed juices), root vegetables (sweet potatoes and carrots), and cookies (arrowroot and teething biscuits) were most commonly contaminated with detectable amounts of lead. Of note: commercially processed baby foods were more likely to contain lead than unprocessed table foods, suggesting that lead is introduced during production rather than growing.

A 2019 investigation by Healthy Babies Bright Futures discovered 95% of the baby foods it tested contained heavy metals “that lower babies’ IQ, including arsenic and lead.”

“The chemicals found in baby food – arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury – are neurotoxins that can permanently alter the developing brain, erode IQ, and affect behavior.

 

In 2021, a U.S. Congressional oversight subcommittee examining reports of contaminated baby foods found “dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium. These toxic heavy metals pose serious health risks to babies and toddlers.” Industry groups were quick to point out that most of the samples the subcommittee referred to had levels below the FDA’s “safety threshold.” But pediatricians know that safety thresholds don’t necessarily apply to young, rapidly growing children, where even tiny amounts can have devastating, lifelong consequences. Take lead, for example:

Lead acts very much like calcium in the bloodstream, so it tends to build up in bone. Children’s growing bones are metabolically active to the extreme, so lead doesn’t stay there for long. Instead, it travels to other metabolically active and growing organs, particularly the brain. It is here that lead, a natural heavy metal, can do the most unnatural damage.

The injuries caused by lead in a developing child’s brain may be profound, or they may be subtle, but they are always permanent. We know that brain damage from lead causes lower IQ’s and other cognitive delays, learning disabilities, hearing impairments, difficulties with attention and concentration (ADHD), decreased academic achievement, and anti-social and other behavioral problems. All these effects have life-long consequences for children when they become adults, and for the rest of society.

Children experience other health effects when they are poisoned with lead. Kidney damage and anemia, short stature and pubertal delays, peripheral nerve damage and muscle weakness all can result in chronic and often painful, lifelong sickness and disability, and early death.

 

Last year, Bloomberg Law conducted its own study on commercial baby foods, finding 32 of 33 samples contaminated with at least two of three heavy metals known to cause serious health problems in children: lead, arsenic, and cadmium. Gary Harki explains where the potentially harmful contaminants come from:

It seems like a simple thing, to feed babies foods without heavy metals that can hurt their development. But the reality is, it’s complicated.

Much of the contamination comes from the environment. Fruits, vegetables, and other plants, especially rice, absorb the metals as they grow. Heavy metals can be reduced by planting in soil that is low in metals, using irrigation systems, and selecting specific crop varieties.

 

HBBF lauds baby food manufacturers for trying to reduce heavy metals in their products:

Baby food companies are paying attention. Current arsenic contamination levels in rice cereal and juice are 37 and 63 percent lower, respectively, than amounts measured a decade ago because of companies’ success in reducing metals levels in their food ingredients to comply with draft FDA guidance. They have shifted growing and processing methods, switched plant varieties, changed irrigation practices, and sourced from cleaner fields.

 

Harki thinks the FDA hasn’t done enough:

The FDA started a program called Closer to Zero in 2021 to address the issue. So far the agency has released only drafts of guidelines around lead in juice products and has blown past its own deadlines for lead guidelines for other baby foods. And ultimately, the agency is not issuing strict regulations, only guidances, which make enforcement optional.

 

In January, the FDA issued a Closer to Zero action plan to specifically reduce lead contamination in baby foods. Tomorrow on The PediaBlog, we will take a closer look at the FDA’s new guidance and consider steps parents can take to reduce the risk of exposure to heavy metals in their babies’ food.

 

(Google Images)

 

source https://www.thepediablog.com/2023/03/20/making-baby-foods-safer-1/