By Jessica DiNapoli, M.B. Pell
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Some baby food manufacturers are failing to meet California’s standards for lead, which are the most stringent in the nation, according to a Reuters analysis of new test results released for the first time.
The results are being made public due to a new California law that on January 1 started requiring all companies making or selling baby food in the state to test their products for heavy metals including lead and publish them.
Of the 1,757 test results from nine different baby food manufacturers analyzed by Reuters, 102 were above California’s maximum limit of 0.5 micrograms of lead per day. Companies reporting lead results higher than the California limit included Plum Organics, Beech-Nut, Nestle’s Gerber, Square Baby, Pumpkin Tree and Happy Family’s Happy Baby, owned by Danone.
Products with elevated levels included organic sweet potatoes from Beech-Nut, Just Prunes from Plum Organics, and 2nd foods carrots from Gerber.
None of the tests obtained by Reuters exceed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s lead limit specifically for packaged baby food, or the agency’s maximum amount of 2.2 micrograms of lead children can consume in a day.
“Those exposures add up. They create health risks in childhood and throughout a lifetime,” said Jane Houlihan, the research director at Healthy Babies Bright Futures, a kids’ health non-profit. “Every time a child eats a meal contaminated with lead, it’s a problem.”
Norbert Kaminski, director of the Center for Research on Ingredient Safety at Michigan State University, countered that eating a single meal with elevated levels of lead is unlikely to harm a child.
“The goal is to minimize exposure to these heavy metals, but to completely eliminate exposure is not realistic,” Kaminski said. “What’s the alternative, stop eating?”
The companies reported their data for four heavy metals in parts per billion for each batch. Reuters determined the amount of lead in each product by multiplying the serving size of each item by the level of heavy metals from the test result, and then compared the figures to the California limit.
Leigh Frame, who studies lead in food at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said the methodology used to determine the amount in each product was sound, and five other experts interviewed by Reuters concurred.
The Office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta declined to comment on the news agency’s findings but issued a statement saying his office is committed to upholding the law to “protect the safety and well-being of Californians.”
An FDA spokesperson said the agency routinely monitors lead in food consumed by babies and young children and takes action if needed, and that one of its goals is to reduce dietary exposure to contaminants to as low as possible. The FDA did not comment directly on Reuters findings.
Happy Family and Pumpkin Tree said they comply with federal and state regulations.
Plum Organics, Beech-Nut and other baby food companies said that California’s lead limit law permits them to average the amount of the contaminant across different batches. Gerber says they’re within the legal limit by averaging a child’s consumption over time, assuming they do not eat the same product every day.
The regulations do not explicitly allow for such averaging, said Lauren Handel, a food industry attorney in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Courts have allowed food makers to do so after they have faced lawsuits claiming they violated California’s law because nothing in the regulations prohibits it, she said.
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which implements the law on lead limits, reviewed the elevated testing data compiled by Reuters and said they exceed the California limit assuming the child eats one meal per day.
ELEVATED LEAD
The presence of lead isn’t a surprise since it is found in chocolate, infant formula, spices and across the produce aisle in vegetables like sweet potatoes, spinach and carrots, four experts told Reuters.
Even so, the results are likely to further inflame debate about the contaminant, its effect on health and development and how much lead is acceptable for babies and children to consume.
A U.S. judge in April allowed a nationwide case against baby food manufacturers including Gerber, Plum Organics and Beech-Nut to move forward, a win for parents suing on behalf of their children. The lawsuit covers thousands of parents, and alleges that the presence of heavy metals including lead in baby food makers’ products causes autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children.
A similar earlier case in California state court against the baby food makers was dismissed in 2023 because the judge did not accept testimony from experts on the dose of heavy metals in each brand’s products, a victory for the companies.
Most baby food makers deny the allegations, taking the position that there is no science supporting the claim that their products cause autism or ADHD.
“This case is really going to hinge on how good the science is and whether or not the lead levels in the products are sufficient enough to cause harm – and what is that harm,” said Bill Marler, an attorney who represents victims in cases against the food industry.
Proving in court that lead in baby food harms children is “going to be very difficult because there are other sources of lead – environmental sources and other foods” that kids are exposed to, said food industry lawyer David Graham.
Other state legislatures are also taking action on the issue, aiming to protect children’s health. Like California, Maryland passed a law requiring companies to test their products and disclose the results, and Illinois is weighing a similar measure.
Lead in baby food comes in part from the soil, which can have naturally occurring lead, but also from pollutants such as vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, mining, fertilizer, lead paint, pipes and pesticides.
Healthy Babies Bright Futures, which focuses on lowering children’s exposure to toxic chemicals, analyzed 288 store-bought baby food and homemade purees and found that both were tainted by heavy metals like lead.
Baby food makers can lower their lead levels by buying from farms with cleaner soil, encouraging certain agricultural practices, and cleaning and processing the vegetables to remove soil and skin, which can have higher levels, five experts told Reuters.
Los Gatos, California-based baby food maker Cerebelly, which has settled two lead cases without admission of guilt, found a new farmer in a region known for soil with lower heavy metals, said Susan Logue, vice president for research and development and quality at the company.
Baby food companies can also overhaul their recipes or stop using certain ingredients, like spinach, known to absorb more heavy metals. Baby food maker Square Baby told Reuters they were reformulating recipes after test results showed amounts of lead higher than the California limit.
(Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli and M.B. Pell in New York, Editing by Vanessa O’Connell and Michael Learmonth)
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