Got lead?
If you’re feeding baby food to your newborn, there’s a 20% chance that the child is ingesting the heavy metal along with his peas and carrots.
The Environmental Defense Fund analyzed over 2,000 food samples between 2003 and 2013 and found that 1 in 5 baby food samples had at least trace amounts of lead, which can cause cognitive problems in young children.
By comparison, 14% of non-baby food samples contained lead, which is a naturally occurring element.
The worst culprits for lead included grape juice for babies (89% of samples had lead); apple juice (55%); and sweet potatoes (86%).
It is unclear how much lead was discovered in the samples, but no one is supposed to consume more than 6 micrograms per day, the maximum daily intake established by the Food and Drug Administration. The federal government says that 5% of children in the U.S. do.
The Environmental Defense Fund is calling on federal authorities to lower the allowable levels of lead in baby food to 1 ppb.
