More must be done to tackle heavy metals in baby food, FDA hears in public comment

05 Jan 2022 --- A public comment made to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its “Closer to Zero” action plan, which aims to reduce heavy metals in baby food, has accused both industry and FDA of prioritizing financial benefits over public health. 

The comments from attorney Pedram Esfandiary of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman firm were submitted to the FDA as the administration is receiving public comment for its “Closer to Zero” action plan. 

“The FDA has historically taken measures that are fundamentally geared toward protecting the bottom line of the industry as opposed to prioritizing consumer health,” Esfandiary tells NutritionInsight.

“For example, the agency is adamant that setting maximum allowable levels of heavy metals in foods should be guided by what industry deems financially viable, not what is most beneficial to protecting public health.”

Esfandiary represents hundreds of families who claim their children are injured from ingesting heavy metals from baby food and is preparing to file lawsuits on their behalf.Increased regulation is seen as a way to tackle the issue of heavy metals in baby food products.

Heavy metals: a public issue
The issue of heavy metals in baby food gained prominence last year when The Committee on Oversight and Reform stated that infant foods are tainted with dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals. 

It noted that manufacturers knowingly sell baby food containing dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium to unsuspecting parents. 

 The consequences may be linked to infant neurological development and long-term brain function, the Committee, which is the main investigative committee in the US House of Representatives, noted. At the time, a number of companies claimed the report was inaccurate.

Sparking action
Nonetheless, the debate led to the FDA unveiling its “Closer to Zero” action plan, in which it aims to reduce exposure to toxic elements, including lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, from foods for babies and young children. It also seeks to set action levels with stakeholder input and encourage the industry to adopt best practices.

It also led Esfandiary to seek to represent parents wishing to file lawsuits against the companies, on the grounds that baby foods with heavy metals are positively associated with autism and ADHD.

“Lead is a potent neurotoxin, capable of causing “decreased cognitive function including full-scale IQ (FSIQ), altered mood and behaviors that may contribute to learning deficits, including attention deficits, hyperactivity, autistic behaviors, conduct disorders and delinquency,” Esfndiary’s public comment to the FDA reads. 

There can be altered neuromotor and neurosensory function, including gross and fine motor skills, visual-motor integration, and hearing threshold effects at levels as low as <10 μg/dL, he adds. 

Tackling heavy metals
Happy Family Organics, which was named in the Committee report, tells NutritionInsight that it did not comment on pending litigation but fully supported the FDA’s “Closer to Zero” action plan. 

“Babies need the nutrition contained in fruits and vegetables as part of a balanced diet to grow healthy and strong. However, as the American Academy of Pediatrics importantly notes, some elements make their way into fruits, vegetables and grains through their naturally occurring presence in agricultural soils and water.”

Similarly, Beech-Nut Nutrition specifies to NutritionInsight that some of these fruits, grains, and vegetables “contain naturally occurring elements at trace levels that cannot be completely eliminated from the food supply because they are naturally occurring in the air, water, and soil and taken up during the growing process.” 

 “The FDA recommends babies (and all people) continue to eat such foods as part of a healthy and varied diet.” 

 Happy Family notes it does not add the elements to its products, nor can they be extracted from ingredients. Both companies say they continue to enhance their food sourcing and test the ingredients and finished products.Companies say traces of heavy metals are sometimes unavoidable. 

More to be done
Esfandiary insists that “baby food manufacturers have gone largely unregulated in how much of these toxins they allow into their food, all at the expense of children’s health.”

He posits there are numerous steps companies can take to reduce or eliminate heavy metals. 

They can stop using ingredients known to be contaminated with heavy metals, such as rice, given its tendency to retain arsenic. “What we know so far is that some companies add certain pre-mix vitamins and minerals that apparently drive up the levels of heavy metals in their products. Simply stopping the use of such components would be a good start.”

Companies can transition away from reliance on suppliers and growers that sell crops raised in conditions that make it more likely for heavy metals to end up in finished products. For example, it is known that rice grown in California contains less arsenic than rice grown in Texas, and flooded paddy fields tend to contribute to higher arsenic content in rice, he notes.

Companies need to set stricter internal limits for the allowable presence of heavy metals in their foods – ideally at zero – and if a manufacturer cannot sell a product because it cannot produce it in such a way as to avoid the presence of dangerous heavy metals that will end up in the bodies of our most vulnerable population, the solution is simple: stop making the product. 

“We’ve already seen certain companies implement some of these measures or exit the market altogether for certain foods because they were unable to manufacture food safe for infants’ consumption. That alone demonstrates that it is financially feasible to do so.”

Parents’ contamination fear has also driven clean label demands, with ByHeart announcing last year its upcoming infant formula is the first in the US to earn “Clean Label Project Purity Award” certification from the Clean Label Project, a non-profit organization that uses data and science to bring transparency to consumer product labeling. 

By Andria Kades