A lot of parents have been asking me “are commercial baby foods safe?”
Over the past several years multiple organizations have tested different brands of baby and toddler
foods and found concerning levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury in many of them.
Several months ago the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform released a report
confirming the same.
The purpose of this video is to inform and educate you on this situation, and more importantly
to make you aware of four immediate changes you can make starting today that will decrease
your child’s exposure to these toxins.
If this is our first time meeting, I’m Dr. Belousov.
I’m a board certified pediatrician and I equip parents with knowledge, so they can
care for their children with confidence.
So let’s start off by answering, where are these heavy metals coming from, and how are
they ending up in baby and toddler foods?
Lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury are heavy metals that are naturally occurring elements
in rock and soil.
But they are also found in higher levels in soil and water that has been contaminated
through either farming and manufacturing practices, or pollution.
Arsenic widely contaminates food and drinking water because it has been used as a pesticide
for a long time, and released into the environment through mining and other industrial operations.
The inorganic form of arsenic is considered to be more toxic.
Lead has been restricted in children’s toys and phased out of gasoline, pesticides, paint,
and food contact surfaces over the past 40 years.
But lead that lingers in homes, food processing equipment, soil and water remains a problem.
Cadmium is a heavy metal that has many industrial uses, and remains a common contaminant in
food and the environment.
Mercury is a global pollutant released from coal-burning power plants, mining operations
and other sources.
Seafood is the main source of mercury exposure for children and adults.
Just as plants absorb nutrients, they also absorb heavy metals from soil and water.
However some plants take up more of the toxins than others.
For example, root crops like carrots and sweet potatoes absorb more of these heavy metals
than most other types of fruits and vegetables.
And rice absorbs about 10 times more inorganic arsenic than do other grains.
For packaged foods, it’s also possible that something in the manufacturing process can
contribute to contamination.
I also want to mention foods that are certified organic.
Although they do have benefits, including lower pesticide levels and less impact on
the environment.
However multiple independent studies have shown that organic baby foods are just as
likely to contain these heavy metals as the non-organic baby foods.
Since most of our soil is contaminated with these heavy metals, and the toxins can get
into prepared organic foods from processing, that’s why they tend to contain similar
levels.
So how do these heavy metals affect the health of baby’s and toddler’s?
Research continues to confirm concerning risks for young children exposed to the four heavy
metals.
Multiple studies show a decrease in IQ, an increase in attention deficits, and an increase
in other learning and behavioral problems in children who are exposed through food and
other sources.
Also three of the metals, arsenic, lead and cadmium are known to be potent human carcinogens.
Which means that they are substances that can potentially cause cancers.
Of course there are many variables - genetics, type of exposure, and the overall quality
of a child’s diet - that affect how children will respond to heavy metals in their environment
or diet.
The risks from these heavy metals grow over time, because they accumulate.
So the great news is that there are things you can do moving forward to decrease your
child’s exposure to these toxins, and reduce the chance of negative outcomes in the future.
I want to spend the remainder of this video focusing on the changes you can make starting
today that will decrease your child’s exposure to the heavy metals in their food.
So the first thing to do, and the one that will decrease your child’s exposure to heavy
metals the most, is to avoid giving your baby or toddler commercial foods made from rice.
In multiple studies that tested baby foods, rice-based foods—infant rice cereal and
rice-based snacks were found not only to be high in inorganic arsenic, the most toxic
form of arsenic, but also were often contaminated with all four heavy metals.
Infant rice cereal is the top source of inorganic arsenic in a child’s diet.
A study that was done by the organization Health Babies Bright Futures found that non-rice
and multi-grain varieties of infant cereals - including oatmeal, barley, quinoa and others
- contain on average 84 percent less inorganic arsenic than leading brands of infant rice
cereal.
Knowing what we know now, I encourage parents to skip infant rice cereal altogether, and
go with the other grain options.
Other commercial baby foods to avoid include the teething biscuits and rice rusks as they
often contain inorganic arsenic, lead and cadmium.
They also don’t have much nutritional value.
Baby snacks that are made with rice flour, including baby puffs, contain arsenic, lead
and cadmium at relatively high levels compared to other baby foods.
By choosing packaged snacks that are rice-free, parents can reduce their children’s exposure
to these heavy metals on average by 93 percent.
Multi-grain snacks which also include rice, have lower levels than snacks that are made
of rice grain only.
Even better options for snacks include offering fruits or giving yogurt to the child and limiting
the number of packaged processed foods in their diets altogether.
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The second thing you can do is offer a wide variety of foods throughout the week.
Since rice absorbs about 10 times more inorganic arsenic from the soil than other grain crops,
it’s the top source of this toxin in our diets.
By changing up which whole grains are served throughout the week, you will decrease your
family’s exposure.
Better options include oats, buckwheat, farro, quinoa, millet and barley.
I know that rice is a staple food for many.
You will be able to decrease the level of inorganic arsenic by soaking the raw rice
and then thoroughly rinsing it before cooking.
Also cooking rice in extra water that is then poured off before serving the food, can cut
the arsenic levels as well.
White rice has been found to have less arsenic than brown rice.
Carrots and sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamin A and other nutrients your child
needs.
But they tend to absorb more of the heavy metals from soil than other fruits and vegetables,
especially lead and cadmium.
It’s fine for you to offer these in your child’s diet, but I wouldn’t offer them
every day.
It’s best to offer a variety of fruits, vegetables and grains throughout the week
in your family meals.
The third thing you can do is avoid giving fruit juices.
Some of the more common fruit juices that children tend to drink, including apple, pear,
and grape juices were found to contain traces of lead and arsenic.
The levels of these heavy metals aren’t as high as in some of the foods.
However, some toddlers drink juice often, so it can become a top source of exposure
to these toxins.
Water is a much better drink for babies and toddlers.
Of course in babies we don’t start water until around 6 months, and we don’t recommend
giving large amounts of it under 12 months, since they’re also taking breast milk or
formula and their kidneys are still developing.
The American Academy of pediatrics recommends that children under one year of age not have
any fruit juices.
And children under 3 should have no more than half a cup in a day.
And if fruit juice is given, it should be offered as part of a meal, not diluted with
water and taken over time, because it increases the child’s risk for tooth decay.
It’s much healthier for your child to eat sliced or pureed fruits than to have them
in the version of fruit juices.
Your child will also get to benefit from the fiber and other nutrients that are present
in the fruit.
The fourth thing to do is offer your child homemade foods primarily.
The benefits of making homemade foods is that it allows you to have control over all the
ingredients that go into the food, opposed to potentially exposing your child to preservatives
and potential contaminants from processing or packaging.
It also allows you to introduce your baby to the unique foods and flavors frequently
eaten by your family.
Not to mention that it’s more cost-effective.
But remember offering a variety of foods is just as important when making your own foods,
since some foods, as I mentioned, absorb higher levels of heavy metals from soil and water.
I don’t want you to be alarmed or frightened by this information.
I hope that from what I discussed in this video, you have a better understanding of
what you can do on your part to decrease your household’s exposure to lead, arsenic, cadmium
and mercury in food.
There’s no question about it, the farming and food processing practices need to be improved.
And better safety standards need to be established.
Fortunately there are organizations like Healthy Babies Bright Futures and others that are
advocating for this.
And also the FDA is looking into implementing better monitoring and regulation of the baby
food industry.
If you would like to see the different reports that tested baby foods and their results,
I do have several of them linked in the description below.
In the comments section, let me know your take-aways from this video.
See you in the next one.