Parents across the U.S. should soon be able to determine how much lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury are in the food they feed their babies, thanks to a California law, the first of its kind, that took effect this year.<\/p>\n
As of Jan. 1, 2025, every company that sells baby food products in California is required to test for these four heavy metals every month. That comes five years after a\u00a0congressional report<\/a>\u00a0warned about the presence of dangerously high levels of lead and other heavy metals in baby food.<\/p>\n Every baby food product\u00a0packaged in jars, pouches, tubs and boxes<\/a>\u00a0sold in California must carry a QR code on its label that consumers can scan to check the most recent heavy metal readings, although\u00a0many are not yet complying<\/a>.<\/p>\n Because companies seldom package products for a single state, parents and caregivers\u00a0across the country<\/a>\u00a0will be able to scan these QR codes or go online to the\u00a0companies\u2019 websites<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0see the results<\/a>.<\/p>\n I am a pharmacist researcher who has studied heavy metals in\u00a0mineral supplements<\/a>,\u00a0dietary supplements<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0baby food<\/a>\u00a0for several years. My research highlights how prevalent these toxic agents are in everyday products such as baby food. I believe the new California law offers a solid first step in giving people the ability to limit the intake of these substances.<\/p>\n How do heavy metals get into foods?<\/strong><\/p>\n Soil naturally contains heavy metals. The earth formed as a hot molten mass. As it cooled, heavier elements settled into its center regions, called the mantle and core. Volcanic eruptions in certain areas have brought these heavy metals\u00a0to the surface<\/a>\u00a0over time. The volcanic rock erodes to form heavy metal-laden soil, contaminating nearby water supplies.<\/p>\n Another major source of soil contamination<\/a>\u00a0is the exhaust from fossil fuels, and in particular leaded gasoline. Some\u00a0synthetic fertilizers<\/a>\u00a0contribute, too.<\/p>\n Heavy metals in the soil can pass into foods via several routes. Plants that yield foods such as\u00a0sweet potatoes and carrots<\/a>,\u00a0apples<\/a>,\u00a0cinnamon<\/a>,\u00a0rice<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0plant-based protein powder<\/a>\u00a0are especially good at extracting them from contaminated soil.<\/p>\n Sometimes the contamination happens after harvesting. For example, local water that contains heavy metals is often used to rinse debris and bugs off natural products, such as leaves used to make\u00a0a widely used supplement called kratom<\/a>. When the water evaporates, the heavy metals are retained on the surface. Sometimes drying products in the open air,\u00a0such as cacao beans for dark chocolate<\/a>, allows dust laden with heavy metals to stick to their surface.<\/p>\n Producers can\u00a0reduce heavy metal contamination<\/a>\u00a0in food in several ways, which range from modestly to very effectively. First, they can reserve more contaminated areas for growing crops that are less prone to taking in heavy metals from the soil, such as\u00a0peppers, beans, squash, melons and cucumbers<\/a>, and conversely grow more susceptible crops in less-contaminated areas. They can also dry plants on uncontaminated soil and filter heavy metals out of water before washing produce.<\/p>\n Producers are starting to use genetic engineering and crossbreeding to create\u00a0susceptible plants that take up fewer heavy metals<\/a>\u00a0through their roots, but this approach is still in its early stages.<\/p>\n How much is too much?<\/strong><\/p>\n Although there is\u00a0no entirely safe level of chronic heavy metal ingestion<\/a>, heavy metals are all around us and are impossible to avoid entirely.<\/p>\n In January 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released its\u00a0first-ever guidance for manufacturers<\/a>\u00a0that sets limits on the amount of lead that baby food can contain. But the FDA guidance does not require companies to adhere to the limits.<\/p>\n In that guidance, the FDA suggested a limit of 10 parts per billion of lead for baby foods that contain fruits, vegetables, meats or combinations of those items, with or without grains. Yogurts, custards and puddings should have the same cutoff, according to the agency. Root vegetables and dry infant cereals, meanwhile, should contain less than 20 parts per billion of lead. The FDA regulations don\u2019t apply to some products babies frequently consume, such as formula, teething crackers and other snacks.<\/p>\n The agency has not defined firm limits for the consumption of other heavy metals, but its campaign against heavy metals in baby food, called\u00a0Closer to Zero<\/a>, reflects that a lower dose is better.<\/p>\n That campaign also laid out\u00a0plans to propose limits<\/a>\u00a0for other heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury.<\/p>\n Modestly exceeding the agency\u2019s recommended dosage for lead or arsenic a few times a month is unlikely to have noticeable negative health effects. However,\u00a0chronically ingesting too much lead<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0inorganic arsenic<\/a>\u00a0can negatively affect childhood health, including cognitive development, and can cause softening of bones.<\/p>\n How California\u2019s QR codes can help parents and other caregivers<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how many products consistently exceed these recommendations.<\/p>\n A study by Consumer Reports in 2018 found that\u00a033 of 50 products had concerning levels<\/a>\u00a0of at least one heavy metal. In 2023, researchers\u00a0repeated testing on seven of the failing products<\/a>\u00a0and found that heavy metal levels were now lower in three, the same in one, and slightly higher in three.<\/p>\n Because these tests assess products bought and tested at one specific time, they may not reflect the average heavy metal content in the same product over the entire year. These levels can vary over time if the manufacturer sources ingredients from different parts of the country or the world at different times of the year.<\/p>\n That\u2019s where California\u2019s new law can help. The law requires manufacturers to gather and divulge real-time information on heavy metal contamination monthly. By scanning a QR code on a box of Gerber Teether Snacks or a jar of Beech Nut Naturals sweet potato puree, parents and caregivers can call up test results on a smartphone and learn how much lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury were found in those specific products manufactured recently. These test results can also be accessed by\u00a0entering a product\u2019s name<\/a>\u00a0or batch number on the\u00a0manufacturer\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Slow rollout<\/strong><\/p>\n In an investigation by Consumer Reports and a child advocacy group called Unleaded Kids,\u00a0only four companies out of 28 were fully in compliance<\/a>\u00a0with the California law as of early this year. Some noncompliant companies had developed no infrastructure, some had developed websites but no heavy metal information was logged in, and some had information but required consumers to enter batch numbers to access results, without the required QR codes on the product packaging.<\/p>\n The law requires companies to provide this information<\/a>\u00a0for foods produced after Jan. 1, 2025, with no provisions for extensions, and the\u00a0major producers<\/a>\u00a0agreed to comply<\/a>\u00a0not only for California residents but to provide the results nationwide.\u00a0California enforces noncompliance<\/a>\u00a0by embargoing misbranded baby food products, issuing penalties, and suspending or revoking registrations and licenses.<\/p>\n When companies\u2019 testing and reporting systems are fully up and running, a quick scan at the grocery store will allow consumers to adapt their purchases to minimize infants\u2019 exposures to heavy metals. Initially, parents and caregivers may find it overwhelming to decide between one chicken and rice product that is higher in lead but lower in arsenic than a competitor\u2019s product, for example.<\/p>\n However, they may also encounter instances where one baby food product clearly contains less of three heavy metals and only slightly more for the fourth heavy metal than a comparable product from a different manufacturer. That information can more clearly inform their choice.<\/p>\n Regardless of the readings, health experts advise parents and caregivers not to eliminate all root vegetables, apples and rice but instead to feed babies\u00a0a wide variety of foods<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n