Toxic Exposures
Congressman Calls on RFK Jr. to Get Toxic Metals Out of Baby Food
In a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said there is a bipartisan opportunity to address heavy metals in baby food. In 2021, Krishnamoorthi co-authored a report finding that baby foods contained lead at levels up to 177 times higher than the permissible amount for drinking water.
An Illinois congressman is calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to join a bipartisan effort to address toxic metals in baby food.
In a letter to Kennedy, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) requested a briefing to discuss the development of a “strategic, evidence-based plan to combat heavy metals in baby food.”
In 2021, Krishnamoorthi co-authored a U.S. House of Representatives staff report finding that baby foods contained lead at levels up to 177 times higher than the permissible amount for drinking water.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not taken action, according to Krishnamoorthi, who wrote:
“In the four years since my investigation, FDA has failed to promptly finalize action levels for toxic heavy metals, such as arsenic, cadmium, and mercury, in foods intended for infants and young children. …
“FDA has continually pushed back its own deadlines and caused parents across the country to worry about their babies’ exposure to toxic heavy metals. FDA has not only failed to remove heavy metals from baby food but even to take incremental steps to move closer to this goal.”
In an interview with Washington-based ABC affiliate WJLA earlier this week, Krishnamoorthi said there is an opportunity for bipartisan action on this issue.
Krishnamoorthi’s letter cited the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda, expressing support for its effort to address factors that may be contributing to the chronic disease epidemic in the U.S.
“While we disagree on many things, I trust that you will agree with me that one vitally important way to accomplish that goal is to improve the nation’s food supply, starting by eliminating contaminants in mass produced baby food,” the letter stated.
The letter asked Kennedy to provide a written response by March 15 and called on him to “urge the future FDA commissioner to take on baby food safety as one of the agency’s top priorities.”
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted to advance the nomination of Dr. Marty Makary, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the FDA, to a full Senate vote.
“Half of our nation’s children are sick and nobody has really been doing anything meaningful on this front,” Makary said during last week’s confirmation hearing.
According to WJLA, “For years, the FDA has been accused of being too cozy with industry, failing to act with all of its power to force companies to make safer food and be transparent about the ingredients.”
Zen Honeycutt, founding executive director of Moms Across America, said she supports efforts to address baby food safety.
“Moms Across America urges the new administration to immediately establish new regulations on baby food and baby formula, as the early months are foundational for development and infants are more impacted by exposure to toxins than adults,” Honeycutt said.
The FDA previously has been unresponsive to her organization’s concerns about the high levels of toxic metals in baby food, Honeycutt said.
“Moms Across America has repeatedly submitted information about alarming levels of heavy and toxic metals aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead in baby formula to the previous administration and we received no response, except for some guidelines for lead in some baby foods.”
Honeycutt suggested the FDA hasn’t taken action because of corporate pressure from Big Ag, which “would not want their profit margins impacted by a change in baby formula ingredients.”
HHS and Krishnamoorthi’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
2021 House report found high levels of several toxic metals in baby foods
The 2021 House report found that, in addition to high levels of lead, baby foods were contaminated with unsafe levels of arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury.
The report also noted that some baby food manufacturers and retailers “refused to cooperate” with the House investigation. “Their lack of cooperation might be obscuring the presence of even higher levels of toxic heavy metals in their baby food products than their competitors’ products,” the report stated.
According to the report:
“Exposure to toxic heavy metals causes permanent decreases in IQ, diminished future economic productivity, and increased risk of future criminal and antisocial behavior in children. Toxic heavy metals endanger infant neurological development and long-term brain function.”
“These neurotoxins build up over time,” Krishnamoorthi told WJLA. “It’s not like they just get flushed out.”
The report recommended mandatory testing of baby foods, mandatory labeling indicating levels of toxic heavy metals in such products, a “voluntary phase-out of toxic ingredients,” parental vigilance and new FDA standards.
In January, the FDA introduced its first-ever guidelines for lead levels in baby foods. The new guidelines require baby food manufacturers to limit lead to no more than 10 parts per billion in a range of baby food products.
According to CNN, these guidelines, which are not enforceable, disappointed child food safety advocates.
Several studies have also found dangerously high levels of toxic metals and other potentially harmful ingredients in baby foods.
Last year, an investigation led by Friends of the Earth found an alarming number of neonicotinoid pesticide residues in baby food manufactured and sold by Target. The pesticides are linked to birth defects and neurological disorders, including autism.
Research published in 2022 by Healthy Babies, Bright Futures found that almost all U.S. baby foods, whether store-bought or homemade, contain detectable amounts of toxic heavy metals that can impair brain development.
In a March 2022 interview on Kennedy’s “RFK Jr. The Defender Podcast,” attorney Pedram Esfandiary said there is little oversight of baby food manufacturers, and these companies are not held liable for toxins their products contain.
In 2023, a mother of a child who developed autism after consuming Beech-Nut, Gerber and Walmart baby food products that were found to contain high levels of toxic metals sued the manufacturers.
Several other class action lawsuits against baby food manufacturers alleging that their products contained high levels of toxic metals resulting in autism are pending before federal courts.
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‘The future of our country is at stake’
Krishnamoorthi told WJLA that even if HHS does not commit to a briefing, he plans to reintroduce the Baby Food Safety Act in Congress.
“It’s a personal issue for families like mine. I want to make sure that I follow through,” Krishnamoorthi said.
Krishnamoorthi introduced the Baby Food Safety Act of 2023, but the bill died in committee that year.
“Every day, babies are being poisoned by these harmful heavy and toxic metals,” Honeycutt said. “Urgent action must be taken by our regulatory agencies, manufacturers, farmers and consumers to protect them. The future of our country is at stake.”
Related articles in The Defender-
- 21 Pesticides Found in Baby Food Sold by Target
- 94% of Baby Foods — Including Homemade — Contain Brain-Damaging Heavy Metals, New Study Shows
- ‘Most Baby Foods Are Toxic,’ Attorney Tells RFK Jr.
- Baby Food Makers Knowingly Sell Products With High Levels of Toxic Metals
- MAHA to Take Mission ‘on the Road’ to Get Public’s Input on Childhood Disease Epidemic
- ‘True Corruption’: Agency Capture Responsible for Chronic Disease Epidemic in U.S.
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