A new study has just suggested that food – particularly baby food, contains lead in it.
In an analysis of 11 years of federal data, the Environmental Defense Fund found detectable levels of lead in 20 percent of 2,164 baby food samples.
Lead is a toxic metal – that was most commonly found in fruit juices such as grape and apple, root vegetables such as sweet potatoes and carrots, and cookies such as teething biscuits.
The organization’s primary focus was on the baby foods specifically because lead can be detrimental to a child’s development.
“Lead may have a number of effects on children and it’s especially harmful during critical windows of development,” Dr. Aparna Bole, pediatrician at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, who was not involved with the report, told CNN. “The largest burden that we often think about is neurocognitive that can occur even at low levels of lead exposure.”
Lead may cause problems with attention and behavior, cognitive development, the cardiovascular system as well as immune system, Bole said.
The samples studied were not identified by brand. The levels of lead are thought to be relatively low, however, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no safe blood lead level in children has been identified.
“The FDA is continuing to work with industry to further limit the amount of lead in foods to the greatest extent feasible, especially in foods frequently consumed by children,” read an agency statement in response to the report.
It also advised that “The agency is in the process of reevaluating the analytical methods it uses for determining when it should take action with respect to measured levels of lead in particular foods, including those consumed by infants and toddlers.”