FDA releases proposed guidance to reduce lead in baby food

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

FDA lead in baby food overview: 

• Who: The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) released its draft guidelines for reducing lead in baby food.
• Why: The move is the FDA’s latest in its efforts to reduce the levels of toxic heavy metals that babies and children are exposed to in food. 
• Where: The guidelines would be applicable in the United States. 

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has released its draft guidance for manufacturers to reduce lead exposure in baby food after a 2021 federal report found a number of baby food makers allowed high levels of heavy metals in their products.

The administration released the draft guidance Jan. 24. It applies to baby food packaged in jars, pouches, tubs and boxes, according to the FDA’s announcement.

“The draft guidance announced today supports the FDA’s goal of reducing dietary exposure to lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury and the associated health effects, while maintaining access to nutritious foods,” the agency says.

The FDA’s “Action Levels for Lead in Food Intended for Babies and Young Children: Draft Guidance for Industry” is now open for public comment as part of its Closer to Zero plan.

The guidance gives levels of heavy metals it recommends manufacturers aim to achieve in their products. While the guidance is not legally enforceable, the agency says that it expects the guidance to result in companies “progressively reducing levels of lead in foods to as low as possible” over time.

Some lead in baby food allowed, FDA says

Lead and other heavy metals may be present in packaged baby foods because the fruits, vegetables, grain and animals they are made of absorb contaminants in the environment, the FDA says.

“In this way, these foods can provide nutrients essential for child growth and development, but they may also be a source of exposure to contaminants,” the FDA draft guidelines say.

While it is not possible to remove lead entirely from the environment or the food supply, it is possible to lower lead levels in foods, the administration says. While the guidance is not mandatory, the FDA would consider the suggested levels in its guidance when considering whether to bring enforcement action in a particular case, it says. 

“For all foods, with or without action levels, when the agency finds that the level of lead causes the food to be unsafe, we take action, which may include working with the manufacturer to resolve the issue and taking steps to prevent the product from entering, or remaining in, the U.S. market,” according to the FDA draft guidelines.

Consumers filed a swarm of class action lawsuits after a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee released a report in February 2021 revealing the presence of toxic heavy metals in a number of popular baby food products.  

The subcommittee found baby food from some of the nation’s most popular and largest brands, including Beech-Nut, Earth’s Best Organic, Gerber, HappyBABY, Parent’s Choice, Plum Organics and Sprout Foods, was contaminated with toxic heavy metals, such as cadmium, arsenic, lead and mercury. 

What do you think of the FDA’s guidance for lead in baby food? Let us know in the comments. 

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Beech-Nut class action over toxic heavy metals dismissed
• Parents push back against Nurture’s bid to dismiss heavy metal baby food suit
• Kroger seeks dismissal of heavy metal baby food class action
• Fisher-Price recalls 4.7M Rock ‘n Play Sleepers again following at least 8 new deaths