Heavy Metals in Baby Food: Be Aware
Your baby’s nutrition is critical to your little one’s long term health. All too often, however, baby food contains heavy metals and other contaminants that could cause long-term issues. Learn about the danger of heavy metals in baby food and why Tastyganics is your premier source for the safest baby formula on the planet.
Heavy Metals Have No Place in Your Baby’s Body
During the mid-20th century, almost every doctor recommended that new mothers feed their babies with formula instead of breastmilk. Full of the scientific arrogance that defined the postwar period, top pediatric nutritionists of the time were convinced that formula offered more benefits than breastmilk.
As a result, baby formula has become a fixture of parenthood around the world. Despite breastmilk’s resurgence in popularity over the last few decades, many parents blindly believe that formula is inherently superior to breastmilk no matter what. In some cases, formula may be almost as good as breastmilk, but contrary to popular opinion, not all types of formula are made equal.
Many mainstream American and international baby formulas contain seriously harmful ingredients that could stunt your child’s growth and cause a whole host of developmental issues. Popular conventional formulas substitute soy for dairy proteins, use the harmful ingredient sucrose for sweeteners, and pack in plenty of DHA, ARA, artificial preservatives, and synthetic nutrients.
Among this cocktail of dangerous substances hides an even greater threat: Heavy metals. Metals like arsenic, lead, and cadmium are estimated to contaminate 80% of the baby formula supply. If you were to pick five random baby formulas off the shelf, four of them would contain toxic levels of heavy metals.
In America, your chances of choosing a formula with heavy metals are actually more than 1:5. Lax organic labeling standards in the USA allow so-called “healthy” American formulas to contain ingredients like soy and sucrose that the EU’s organic agency has rightly recognized as dangerous. For American parents who want to give their children the best, therefore, choosing European formula is the only option.
Which Heavy Metals Are in Baby Food?
A study performed by the Clean Label Project found that the majority of baby food products contain distressing levels of heavy metals. Here are the four toxic heavy metals this study tested for and how they could harm your little one:
Research suggests that exposure to arsenic as a child could lower your little one’s IQ by as many as six points. Long-term exposure to arsenic makes your health worse overall, reduces your life expectancy, and leaves you more susceptible to illness and disease. Regularly consuming arsenic as a small child, for instance, makes people more at risk of developing cancer and skin lesions, and it also raises your risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Cadmium is another toxic metal that’s all too frequently found in baby food formulas. This heavy metal makes your child more at risk of lung and bone diseases, and where cadmium really hits hard is in your baby’s kidneys. Prolonged exposure to cadmium in food or drinks can cause acute kidney failure later in life, and this heavy metal can also cause cancer.
Chocolate flavoring agents, such as cocoa powder, are commonly contaminated with cadmium. If you have to use American formula, therefore, it’s best to stick with vanilla or naturally-flavored options. Even formulas that don’t contain chocolate flavoring, however, may still contain levels of cadmium high enough to cause developmental issues and serious diseases.
Prolonged exposure to toxic levels of mercury causes severe nerve damage. In children, mercury poisoning may slow cognitive development, and this toxic heavy metal could also cause loss of coordination, muscle weakness, and hearing issues. What’s more, mercury can damage your child’s eyesight over time. The most dangerous form of mercury, methyl mercury, is especially prevalent in rice cereals, and rice protein is sometimes used in baby formula.
Prolonged lead exposure lowers your IQ. Lead was one of the first heavy metals identified as neurotoxic, yet it is still unreasonably prevalent in baby formula. This toxic metal also causes heart disease, and lead exposure contributes to 400,000 deaths per year. No amount of lead is safe to include in your diet, but many rice-based formulas contain dangerous levels of this metal.
How to Avoid Heavy Metals in Baby Food
Unfortunately, you can’t rely on American baby formula to be free of heavy metals. While heavy metals can enter baby formula at various stages of the production process, they’re practically impossible to get out. As discouraging as this might be to hear, even your most trusted organic American baby food brand might be exposing your child to toxic levels of heavy metals.
Many parents have turned to European baby formula as the solution. While no baby formula is perfect, the stricter standards imposed by the EU make it harder for companies to cut corners and include cheap or toxic ingredients. While it used to be a hassle to get European baby formula in the United States, domestic eCommerce solutions have made it easy for parents to get the high-quality European formula they need to give their children the brightest possible futures.
Pick the Right Formula for Your Baby
No matter which European baby formula option you pick, remember that relying on the stricter standards of the EU’s organic certification agency will protect your baby from heavy metals and other dangerous ingredients. Some of the brands we offer at Tastyganics are even certified by prestigious independent organizations like Demeter, so shop with confidence as you rely on Tastyganics as your go-to source of healthy, nutritious baby formula. Your baby’s life should be full of opportunities for success, and when you start things off right with great nutrition, the sky is the limit for your little one.
- Jennifer Akiyama