The following congressional report was dug up from the memory hole. The FDA responded with a Closer to Zero Initiative. But the initiative did not go into immediate effect.
First announced in April 2021, the agency’s Closer to Zero plan committed the FDA to proposing action levels for toxic metals in various baby foods, including for lead by April 2022, inorganic arsenic by April 2024 and cadmium and mercury after April 2024. These deadlines have since disappeared from the agency’s website.
FDA spokesman said: “In January 2023, the FDA published draft action levels for lead in foods intended for babies and young children; the FDA has also published draft action levels for lead in juices and final action levels for arsenic in apple juice and in infant rice cereal. As described in the draft guidance, action levels represent the level at which the FDA may regard the food as adulterated because it may be injurious to health. Thus, when the FDA is developing action levels, the FDA considers whether the level of the contaminant in the food may be injurious to health.”
Amazingly, an “FDA spokesperson told Technology Networks that, with or without the Closer to Zero program, consumers can be reassured that food manufacturers do still have legal obligations to prevent contamination. … The preventive control provisions require industry to implement controls to significantly minimize or prevent any identified chemical hazards requiring a control, which may include arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury.”
The FDA is saying that we can rely on the manufacturers, who have been caught knowingly selling baby food with toxic heavy metals, to do the right thing on their own.
The result of the FDA’s delay:
[In 2023], family doctors across the US began noticing some alarming blood results affecting toddlers. Infants from multiple states were testing positive for high levels of lead – in some cases, four times the level that would initially raise concern.
While the exact number of affected children remains unclear, by November 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had reported at least 205 confirmed cases from 33 states. Using a different reporting method, the FDA counted 69 babies and toddlers sickened in 28 states as of December 14, 2023.
They found the culprit in that case. It was cinnamon apple sauce. The manufacturer of the cinnamon added lead chromate to the cinnamon as a way of enhancing the color. The apple sauce manufacturer unknowingly added the contaminated cinnamon to the apple sauce. But what about the across-the-board high lead and other heavy metal levels found in a variety of baby foods cited in the congressional report?
I was able to find one reported recall of baby food due to heavy metals in March 2025. That recall did not involve any of the baby food manufacturers in the congressional report. “A type of baby food sold at Target stores under its ‘Good & Gather’ brand was recalled after elevated lead levels were detected. The recall, issued in March 2025, affects 26,500 4-ounce containers of Pea, Zucchini, Kale & Thyme Vegetable Puree (lot number 4169). They are marked with a “best by” date of December 9, 2025.”
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
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Washington, D.C. (Feb. 4, 2021)—Today, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, released a staff report showing that baby foods are tainted with dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals that endanger infant neurological development and long-term brain function. Subcommittee Chairman Krishnamoorthi issued the following statement: “Baby food manufacturers hold a special position of public trust. But consumers mistakenly believe that these companies would not sell unsafe products. The Subcommittee’s staff report found that these manufacturers knowingly sell baby food containing high levels of toxic heavy metals. I hope companies will commit to making safer baby foods. Regardless, it’s time that we develop much better standards for the sake of future generations.” The Subcommittee’s investigation found:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization have declared that inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury are toxic heavy metals dangerous to human health, particularly to babies and children, who are most vulnerable to their neurotoxic effects. Even low levels of exposure can cause serious and often irreversible damage to brain development. “The Subcommittee’s investigation revealed that manufacturers knowingly sell tainted baby food to unsuspecting parents, in spite of internal company test results showing high levels of toxic heavy metal, and without any warning labels whatsoever,” added Chairman Krishnamoorthi. “I look forward to FDA’s careful regulation of these toxic heavy metals in baby foods, followed by strict compliance requirements and mandatory consumer labels.” Click here to read the Subcommittee’s staff report. |