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More baby food brands contain toxic metals
Toxic baby food is still on store shelves.
CHICAGO - Toxic baby food is still on store shelves.
A new Congressional report, released Wednesday, reveals baby food manufacturers are allowing high levels of heavy metals into the food.
"Quite frankly we've been shocked," said Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi.
The report found mercury, arsenic and lead in amounts that exceed the Food and Drug Administration’s limit for bottled water, in popular baby food brands.
"We assume that baby food makers would definitely make food that's safe for our most vulnerable citizens, our babies, and that the government would regulate this industry closely. And neither of those assumptions is true," said Congressman Krishnamoorthi.
The report reveals testing reports from Plum Organics, Walmart and Sprout, showing all brands contain baby foods with high levels of the toxic metals.
Products tested include infant rice cereal, oatmeal and infant puffs.
Doctors say no amount of these metals is safe for babies.
"What I found on Capitol Hill, is that sometimes for children, youth, and babies who don't make campaign contributions, who don't vote, who don't have a voice in the halls of power, unfortunately companies take advantage of that situation," said the Congressman.
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He says the baby food industry is a $13 billion dollar business that’s not heavily regulated by the FDA.
Earlier this year, he opened an investigation into the levels of toxic metals in baby foods, asking big name brands to reveal how much of those metals is in their products.
The results of the final three companies were released in the latest report.
The FDA has vowed to set specific limits for metals in baby food, but hasn’t yet.
Krishnamoorthi is sponsoring "The Baby Food Safety Act" to set limits immediately for the foods, force the manufacturers to reveal test results, require mandatory testing of the finished products (not just the ingredients), educate parents on the problem and help farmers grow safer food.
Toxic heavy metals occur naturally in the soil, but they can be partially controlled by farming practices and ingredient choices.