Unsafe levels of toxic heavy metals – arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury – have been found in store-bought and homemade baby food (including in organic foods). Because these metals are everywhere in our environment, it can be nearly impossible to avoid them in your baby’s diet. But you can lower your baby’s likelihood of ingesting them. To start, serve a wide variety of healthy foods, avoid snacks and cereals made of rice, and don’t give your baby fruit juice.
IN THIS ARTICLE
- Why are there heavy metals in baby food?
- How to avoid heavy metals in baby food
- Should I make baby food instead of buying it?
- Can heavy metals in baby food harm my baby?
- Should I give my child organic baby food?
- How can I choose safe baby food?
Why are there heavy metals in baby food?
All food, including baby food, contains some heavy metals. Metals are naturally present in water, soil, and air, but also enter our food through pesticides and pollution.
Several reports have highlighted unsafe levels of toxic heavy metals – arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury – found in store-bought baby food (including in organic brands).
In 2019, the nonprofit Healthy Babies Bright Futures analyzed 168 baby foods and found toxic metals in 95 percent of them. A year earlier, Consumer Reports tested 50 packaged baby and toddler foods for cadmium, mercury, arsenic, and lead and found alarming results. All of the products contained measurable amounts of at least one heavy metal, about two-thirds had “worrisome” levels of these metals, and 15 posed a potential health risk if eaten once a day.
In 2022, Healthy Babies Bright Futures tested homemade baby food to see if it’s safer than store-bought. Sadly, the group discovered that 94 percent of homemade baby food was contaminated with one or more of the four toxic heavy metals. Levels of heavy metals varied significantly by the type of food, not by how it was made.
Excessive consumption of heavy metals can cause health problems and damage a child’s developing brain – and there’s no easy way for parents to learn what may be in the baby food they buy or make. Public health experts have called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to set safe standards for baby foods and provide more transparent labels. Currently, the FDA doesn’t regulate the amount of heavy metals in most baby foods.
How to avoid heavy metals in baby food
While it’s impossible to completely avoid heavy metals lurking in your baby’s meals and snacks, you can take steps to lower your baby’s risk of getting too many in their diet:
- Continue to serve a wide variety of foods that are rich in essential nutrients. Feeding your child a variety of healthy foods helps provide balanced nutrition and may help limit the risk of long-term exposure to heavy metal. Start solids with pureed veggies, fruits, or meats rather than baby cereal. Or, skip purees and try baby-led weaning.
- Avoid rice cereals and snacks made with rice flour, since rice absorbs about 10 times more arsenic than other grains. According to Healthy Babies Bright Futures, rice cakes, crisped rice cereal, and rice puffs are the most contaminated foods. Rice milk and brown rice syrup, which is used to sweeten some foods, is also recommended against.
- Instead of rice, opt for whole grains such as oats, barley, farro, bulgar, and quinoa. When making rice for your family, keep in mind that white basmati and sushi rice has lower levels of arsenic than brown rice. Rinse your rice before you cook it, and consider cooking it in extra water and draining the excess.
- Give your child whole foods as much as possible, rather than processed snacks. Foods that are low in heavy metals include: Apples, unsweetened applesauce, avocados, bananas, barley with diced vegetables, beans, cheese, grapes, hard-boiled eggs, peaches, strawberries, and yogurt. (Just make sure to cut food into small pieces to avoid choking hazards.)
- Breastfeed if possible. Breastfeeding rather than formula feeding can help reduce exposure to metals.
- If you use tap water to prepare infant formula or cereals, consider having your home’s water tested for lead or boil it. Metals can get into tap water, especially if it comes from a well or passes through older pipes. If you’re concerned about your water, use bottled water to make your baby’s bottles and food.
- Choose low-mercury fish. Fish is packed with beneficial nutrients, and babies can eat fish soon after they start solids. But you’ll want to avoid fish that are high in methylmercury, such as bigeye tuna, king mackerel, marlin, swordfish, and tilefish. Better fish choices include salmon, cod, tilapia, and whitefish.
- Avoid fruit juice. Many brands of apple and grape juice contain inorganic arsenic and lead. If you give your child juice, the Paediatricians recommends no more than 4 ounces a day for 1- to 3-year-olds, and no juice at all for infants.
- Limit carrots and sweet potatoes, which contain more heavy metals than other veggies because they grow in the ground. Always wash and peel them before serving. Consumer Reports found that sweet potatoes were particularly likely to have high levels of heavy metals. Healthy Babies Bright Futures also recommends limiting spinach and cantaloupe.
Should I make baby food instead of buying it?
Heavy metals are in the produce we buy, so making homemade baby food won’t help you avoid them in your baby’s diet. But because heavy metals can also get into baby food from food manufacturing and packaging, making your own baby food may help reduce your baby’s exposure.
The doctors cautions that whether you’re making baby food or buying it at the store, offering a variety of foods is key to reducing the risk of toxic metals in your child’s food.
You can make all or part of your baby’s food by pureeing fruits, vegetables, grains, and other foods with a little breast milk, formula, or water to the desired consistency. You can also puree a little of what the rest of the family is eating if it doesn’t contain added sugars or too much sodium.
Can heavy metals in baby food harm my baby?
It’s unlikely but not impossible. According to the Paediatricians, the levels of heavy metals found in baby foods are a relatively small part of a child’s overall toxic metal exposure risk. But it’s best to minimize kids’ exposure to heavy metals from all sources.
“Heavy metal exposure can be harmful to the developing brain. It’s been linked with problems with learning, cognition, and behavior,” says the paediatricians. Because babies’ brains are rapidly growing, and their bodies are small, exposure to heavy metals is especially dangerous.
Should I give my child organic baby food?
Some parents prefer organic baby food because they want to give their baby food that’s free of pesticides and other chemicals. This is an issue you’ll have to decide based on what’s best for your family. But keep in mind that organic foods are as likely to contain heavy metals as conventional foods.
Whatever you decide, don’t skimp on fruits and veggies in an effort to reduce your baby’s exposure to heavy metals or pesticides. Fruits and vegetables are an excellent source of important nutrients, including potassium, folate, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K. Plus, studies suggest that babies who don’t get a lot of fruits and veggies in their diet are less likely to eat them later.
How can I choose safe baby food?
If you’re concerned about heavy metals in your baby’s food, check out The Clean Label Project. This national nonprofit tests baby foods for heavy metals and publishes a list of best and worst baby food products.
Healthy Babies Bright Futures also offers a tip sheet for parents to reduce babies’ exposure to heavy metals in their diet.
According to the group, foods low in heavy metals include fruit (fresh, frozen, and in baby food); vegetables like green beans, peas, and butternut squash; and proteins like meats, eggs, and beans. The least-contaminated foods for babies, they say, are:
The most-contaminated foods for babies, according to Healthy Babies Bright Futures, are:
- rice cakes
- crisped rice cereal
- rice-based puffs
- brown rice
- rice-based teething biscuits
- white rice
- raisins
- non-rice teething crackers
- granola bars with raisins
- oat-ring cereal
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