Allison Conwell
After recall of baby food with arsenic, CoPIRG calls on Congress to Pass Baby Food Safety Act of 2021
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CoPIRG
DENVER — In the wake of Beech-Nut’s discovery of high levels of arsenic in its single-grain rice cereal and its decision to recall and stop selling the products, CoPIRG is calling on Colorado’s congressional delegation to support the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021.
The Baby Food Safety Act would require companies that make baby food to limit arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury in those products within one year. It would also require companies that make baby food to test their final product for arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury and publicly release the results, as opposed to the current practice of testing individual ingredients.
CoPIRG Advocate Allison Conwell issued the following statement:
“The Beech-Nut baby food recall shines a spotlight on the need to ensure all baby food manufacturers make food safely or stop selling products that pose health risks. Parents do not want their kids eating baby food with unsafe levels of arsenic in it.
“These baby food manufacturers aren’t required to test their final products or disclose results to regulators or to parents. The Baby Food Safety Act would address these issues and require foods to have much lower levels of metals much more quickly than the FDA’s “Closer to Zero” plan. Congress needs to pass the Baby Food Safety Act to protect babies from these harmful metals.”
Background on the Beech-Nut baby food recall: The company said its Single-Grain Rice item (UPC Code# 52200034705), which has an expiration date of 01MAY2022 and product codes: 103470XXXX and 093470XXXXl, tested above the FDA guidance limit of 100 parts per billion of arsenic. In the congressional subcommittee report (pp. 3, 17-18), some Beech-Nut ingredients tested as high as 913 parts per billion (ppb) of arsenic, and common additives — used to create ‘crumb softness’ in food — tested at more than 300 ppb of arsenic (p. 3). For comparison, the FDA limit for bottled water is 10 parts per billion of arsenic.
