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(Journalist)
– A House Watch Committee report says alarming levels of toxic heavy metals – including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury – have been found in major baby food products. Heavy metals can jeopardize the neurological development of infants. The chairman of the subcommittee expressed his frustration with federal regulators, Washington post reports. “Over the past decade activists and scientists have brought this to the attention of the Food and Drug Administration,” Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said. “The FDA needs to set standards and regulate this industry much more closely, from now on.” The agency said it was reviewing the panel’s findings. The panel asked seven labels to provide the results of their internal tests. Gerber, Beech-Nut, HappyBABY, and Earth’s Best Organic Baby Foods have done it; Plum Organics Baby Foods, Parents’ Choice from Walmart and Sprout Foods didn’t.
Because heavy metals occur naturally, there is no need to panic, an Consumer Reports expert says. “You want to minimize the risk,” he said, according to CBS. “You can’t eliminate it entirely, but you can minimize it.” He suggests parents make sure their child’s diet is varied, avoiding snacks that contain high levels of heavy metals, like crackers and puffs. Rice and sweet potato products absorb pollutants more easily, he said. An American agency classifies arsenic as the most dangerous natural substance, along with lead No. 2. “Exposure to these toxic heavy metals affects the brain development and nervous system of babies,” an expert said. Environmental Defense Fund. “It affects their behavior, permanently lowers their IQ and, if you want to reduce it in dollars, their potential for lifetime earnings.” The committee posted its report here. (There is a way to cook rice that reduces the arsenic it contains, the researchers say.)
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