The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a constituent update responding to the Senate's report on elevated levels of heavy metals in baby foods. "While the report released on February 4, 2021 by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy raises important questions on what more can be done to reduce toxic elements in baby foods, the FDA has been actively working on this issue using a risk-based approach to prioritize and target the agency’s efforts," the update states. "Firms and individuals who manufacture or sell food have a legal responsibility under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to ensure the safety of their products. The FDA reviews information and takes action on a case-by-case basis. If the FDA finds that a product violates the law, the agency takes steps to stop the product from being imported, takes…
Tag Archives heavy metals
A staff report from a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Reform has found that several baby foods contain high levels of heavy metals, including inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury. The report argues that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "has failed to confront the risks of toxic heavy metals in baby food" and has "designed these limits to be protective of industry." "In one category of baby food for which FDA has finalized a standard—infant rice cereal—it set the maximum inorganic arsenic content at the dangerous level of 100 ppb. Why did FDA set its level so high? Because in developing the limit, FDA was focused on the level of inorganic arsenic that would cause cancer. FDA disregarded the risk of neurological damage, which happens at a much lower level," the report asserts. The report notes the trust that consumers place in…
12
