(WAND) - Baby and toddler foods have harmful heavy metals in them, according to Consumer Reports.
The Consumer Reports safety team analyzed 50 nationally distributed baby and toddler foods. All 50 of the samples tested positive for at least one of the harmful metals, with 68 percent containing worrisome levels of at least one of the metals. Fifteen of the foods contained enough material to pose potential health risks to a child eating just one serving a day.
Most of the products came from the two biggest U.S. baby food manufacturers: Gerber and Beech-Nut. In a survey of over 3,000 parents with children under three, 90 percent said they use the products at least occasionally.
A chemist with the Consumer Reports Food Safety Division says small amounts of these metals over a long period of time can raise the risk of bladder, lung, and skin cancer, cognitive and reproductive problems and type 2 diabetes.
The harmful materials include cadmium, inorganic arsenic and lead.
A recent study posted in the Lancert Public Health Journal suggests low levels of lead from food and other sources contribute to about 400,000 deaths annually. Overexposure to methylmercury can cause nerve damage, muscle weakness, lack of coordination, and impaired vision and hearing. Long exposure to cadmium can lead to kidney, bone and lung diseases.
Not only baby foods were affected. Previous Consumer Reports work found worrisome levels of heavy metals in canned tuna, protein powders, fruit juice, and rice and rice products, including infant rice cereals.
Further information in the survey suggests parents are often unaware of the risks of metals in their children’s foods. Half of the parents believed children’s foods were subject to stricter regulation and safety testing than other packaged foods.
For more information and the full report click here.
