Homemade and Prepackaged Baby Foods Both Contain Toxic Heavy Metals: Study

Nearly all baby foods — both store-bought and homemade — that American parents feed their children contain detectable amounts of toxic heavy metals, a new study has found. Baby food safety has increasingly emerged on the national radar, particularly following a 2021 congressional investigation that identified “dangerous levels” of toxins like lead and arsenic in such products.

April 1, 2023 | Source: The Hill | by Sharon Udasin

Nearly all baby foods — both store-bought and homemade — that American parents feed their children contain detectable amounts of toxic heavy metals, a new study has found.

The study, conducted by the Healthy Babies Bright Futures alliance, found that 94 percent of pre-packaged foods marketed for babies and toddlers contain heavy metals like lead and arsenic.

As it turns out, however, the exact same percentage applied to homemade purees and pre-packaged “family food” options geared toward the entire family, the study found.

The new findings build upon a 2019 study conducted by the same group, in which 95 percent of store-bought baby foods tested were contaminated with heavy metals.

This time, the alliance — which includes nonprofit organizations, philanthropies and scientists — set out to determine whether homemade options were, in fact, a superior choice.

After assessing 288 different products, the researchers said they “found no evidence” to corroborate this notion.

“Heavy metal levels varied widely by food type, not by who made the food,” the authors stated.