Lead and Food

Baby Food issues in the News

• February 28, 2025, Youth Today. Parents can soon use QR codes to reveal heavy metal content in baby food "Parents across the U.S. should soon be able to determine how much lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury are in the food they feed their babies, thanks to a California law, the first of its kind, that took effect this year. As of Jan. 1, 2025, every company that sells baby food products in California is required to test for these four heavy metals every month. That comes five years after a congressional report warned about the presence of dangerously high levels of lead and other heavy metals in baby food. Every baby food product packaged in jars, pouches, tubs and boxes sold in California must carry a QR code on its label that consumers can scan to check the most recent heavy metal readings, although many are not yet complying. Consumer Reports in 2018 found 33 of 50 baby products had concerning levels of at least one heavy metal. Because companies seldom package products for a single state, parents and caregivers across the country will be able to scan these QR codes or go online to the companies’ websites and see the results."

• January 6, 2025. CNN. FDA disappoints child advocates with its new limit on lead in baby food. "For the first time in history, the US Food and Drug Administration has established guidance for levels of lead in processed baby foods that are sold on supermarket shelves and online. The agency’s action, announced Monday, only provides guidance to industry and is not enforceable. Under the new guidelines, baby food manufacturers should have no more than 10 parts per billion of lead in baby yogurts, custards, puddings, single-ingredient meats, processed fruits and vegetables, and mixtures of fruits, vegetables, grains and meat."

• January 6, 2025. Center for Science in the Public Interest. FDA issues final guidance for lead action levels in baby food. We hope that FDA, with Congress's help, will act more quickly and decisively as it continues its work on the Closer to Zero program. CSPI further encourages states to step in, following the lead of California and Maryland, which have both passed laws requiring manufacturers to test baby food products for heavy metals and disclose the results. These laws help to fill the gaps in federal laws and regulations that have allowed heavy metal-contaminated products on store shelves for too long."

• December 31, 2024. LA Times via Yahoo. California baby food labels will soon reveal levels of lead and mercury in their products. "Beginning Wednesday, baby food makers that sell products in California will have to make a major shift toward transparency and provide a QR code on their packaging that takes consumers to test results for the presence in their product of four heavy metals: lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium. [.....] The change, required under a California law passed by the Legislature in 2023, will impact consumers nationwide. Because companies are unlikely to create separate packaging for the California market, QR codes are likely to be present on products sold across the country, and consumers everywhere will be able to view the heavy metal concentrations." 

• July 5, 2024. JD Supra. Maryland Requires Baby Food Manufacturers to Test for Toxic Heavy Metals. "We want to inform you of a new law in Maryland, effective January 1, 2025, that mandates baby food manufacturers to test for toxic heavy metals, excluding infant formula. Known as Rudy’s Law, this legislation was inspired by the case of young Rudy Callahan, who suffered lead poisoning from contaminated applesauce.

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