(Newser)
– A report by the House Oversight Committee says alarming levels of toxic heavy metals – including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury – have been found in major-label baby food. Heavy metals can endanger the infant’s neurological development in infants. The chairman of the subcommittee expressed frustration with the federal regulators Washington Post reports. “In the last decade, lawyers and scientists have brought this to the attention of the Food and Drug Administration,” said Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi. The FDA needs to set standards and regulate this industry much more closely, starting now. The agency said it was analyzing the group’s findings. The panel asked for seven labels to provide the results of their internal tests. Gerber, Beech-Nut, HappyBABY and the best organic baby foods on Earth have done it; Plum Organics, Walmart’s Parent’s Choice and Sprout Foods did not.
Because heavy metals occur naturally, there is no need to panic, a Consumption reports said the expert. “You want to minimize the risk,” he told CBS. “You can’t eliminate it completely, but you can minimize it.” He suggests parents make sure their child’s diet is varied, avoiding snacks that have a high level of heavy metals, such as biscuits and fluff. Rice and sweet potato products absorb pollutants more easily, he said. An American agency classifies arsenic as the most dangerous natural substance, with lead no. 2. “Exposure to these toxic heavy metals affects the development of the brain and nervous system of babies,” said an expert from the Environmental Defense Fund. “It affects their behavior, permanently lowers their IQ and, if you want to reduce it to dollars, their potential for life.” The committee posted its report here. (There is a way to cook rice that reduces the arsenic in it, the researchers say.)