Baby Food Found to Have Traces of Arsenic According to New Study

USA Today reports that The Clean Label Project recently discovered traces of arsenic in the majority of baby formulas they tested including big-name brands like “…Gerber, Enfamil, Plum Organics and Sprout.” Overall, The Clean Label Project tested about 530 baby food products and “…found 65% of products tested positive for arsenic, 36% for lead, 58% for cadmium and 10% for acrylamide.”

According to their website, The Clean Label Project is a nonprofit based out of Colorado that wants to raise industry standards for food and inform consumers about what’s inside the products they ingest. They’ve studied dog and cat food, as well.

Despite the new study, baby food brands have released statements saying they stand behind their products. USA Today points out that traces of arsenic in food items like rice (which pulls the chemical from the ground) has a proposed limit deemed safe by the government, but it isn’t enforced. Also, lead is never found to be safe to eat, but it isn’t regulated in baby food.

If you want to learn more about The Clean Label Project’s study concerning baby formula and food, see their project summary here. They explain, “Every product tested is displayed in the product ratings with a rating of one, three or five stars so you can look up the products you purchase—and make informed future purchasing decisions based on science rather than marketing terms and manufacturer supplied data.”