A shocking revelation for every parent was the 2021 congressional report that revealed high levels of heavy metals in baby foods produced by prominent baby food manufacturers.
Highlighted on February 4, 2021, in the Congressional report, “Baby Foods Are Tainted with Dangerous Levels of Arsenic, Lead, Cadmium, and Mercury,” the companies responsible for the high level of these metals in food are Nurture, Beech-Nut, Hain, Campbell, Walmart, and Sprout Organic Foods.
According to the report, some products contained as much as 91 times the arsenic level, up to about 177 times the lead level, up to 69 times the cadmium level, and five times the mercury levels permitted in bottled water by the United States Food & Drug Administration.
A startling study released by Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) on August 11, 2022, shows that toxic amounts of these heavy metals also contaminate many organic foods.
According to the report, HBBF tested 288 foods and examined over 7000 more food tests from other studies and discovered that “94% of all food samples sampled contained noticeable amounts of heavy metals: 94% of store baby food, and 94% of homemade purees and family brand foods.”
These findings raise the question of what precisely these toxic heavy metals are and how they are detrimental to the health of any infant.
What are the Toxic Heavy Metals?
Many metal elements are needed in the body for growth and development.
Iron is important for red blood cell formation, Calcium is required for bone and teeth development, and Potassium is important for the brain and its transfer of information to other body parts.
However, some elements pose a threat to people, especially infants.
The metals mentioned as priorities of the FDA’s Closer to Zero Action Plan are arsenic, cadmium, lead, and Mercury.
What are the Harmful Effects of these Toxic Metals?
Mercury: Exposure to high levels of Mercury can cause a neurological deficiency in infants. An article by WHO on the harmful effects of Mercury showed that children exposed to high levels of methylmercury in fish showed signs of cognitive impairment.
Arsenic: Exposure to arsenic through cereals and various baby foods made from rice can seriously affect a child. Increased exposure to arsenic leads to high mortality, cancers, lung diseases, heart failures, and kidney failures. Studies have also shown that it causes cognitive impairment seen in low IQ and bad memory retention among children.
Lead: The dangers of toxic lead exposure are brain damage, thwarted growth, and development, learning and behavior problems, and hearing and speech problems.
Cadmium: Cereal meals can be contaminated by cadmium. Constant exposure to cadmium from these baby foods can cause cancer. Cadmium is a carcinogen, meaning that it encourages cancer formation. Cadmium is also a neurotoxin that can disrupt neurological development.
Toxic exposure to these heavy metals becomes detrimental to children as they grow up. Many of them develop Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficiency Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); some develop cancers and die prematurely.
Many of them are hospitalized, and their parents spend countless amounts to pay for hospital bills. The children themselves do not learn to live as a normal part of society and would feel ostracized. The adverse effects on the infant’s health eventually spread to every part of their life; social, economic, and mental.
Conclusion
If you believe your child may have been a victim of baby food causing autism, reach out to an attorney currently handling these types of cases to receive help with your possible claim.
You may be entitled to compensation for the damage done to your child as a result of these baby foods.
