High levels of arsenic, cadmium, and lead, have been found in baby food samples according to investigators, and lawmakers say that a lack of regulation is to blame. But the food market is one of the most highly regulated markets around and still food products have made their way through on numerous occasion that have been contaminated or have been marketed in a fraudulent manner.
It was found that even for baby food items that had been marketed as organic that they too were contaminated with arsenic, lead, cadmium, and also mercury.
It's also alleged that several baby food suppliers were unwilling to cooperate with the investigation, including Walmart, Sprout Organic Foods, Campbell Soup Co, and others. Lawmakers say that this is concerning and they fear there could be an even bigger problem with baby food samples than they are currently aware of.
They say that the manufacturers have been free to set their own standards on testing limits for these contaminants, and by doing so that has meant pumping out this sort of quality to the market.
The average parent is unaware that by buying popular baby food items that they are also potentially opting for a contaminated item with high levels of cadmium, arsenic, or mercury. If they were made aware of this then they would most likely stop purchasing those products and the reputation of the company would be severely tarnished, it would be difficult to gain that trust back again once people found out that the company had been selling items which could cause their children great harm.
Unfortunately, most parents aren't interested and don't have time to do their own independent, third-party testing on the food items they are buying. But by giving the company the benefit of the doubt sometimes you end up in a situation like this.
This is a multi-billion dollar market in the U.S. and expected to reach 98 billion worldwide within just a few years time.
Some of the biggest companies in this space include Nestle, Campbell, and others. Interest in organic baby food continues to grow, as more parents look for what they believe might be a healthier food choice for their children.
The recent congressional report found heavy metals in samples from a number of companies including:
Beech-Nut
Earth’s Best Organic (Hain Celestial Group)
Gerber
HappyBABY (Nurture)
This comes after lawmakers asked several companies to give data on the topic when a nonprofit known as Healthy Babies Bright Futures previously published results of independent testing that they did on baby food samples.
It's been suggested by a senior staff scientist with Consumer Reports that parents switch to unprocessed fruits and vegetables if they are concerned about the problem and want to try and avoid buying baby food that might be contaminated.
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