How Can You Reduce Your Infant's Exposure to Heavy Metals in Baby Food?

A recent report found that more than 90% of baby foods contain one or more heavy metals. This is a scary statistic because heavy metals in baby food are toxic for your child. Some of the toxic metals in baby food include lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's website explains why this happens: plants absorb metals found in the air, water, and soil. As a result, the food manufactured from such plants is easily contaminated. These elements are detrimental, especially for babies and young children.

Toxins in baby food can hinder the development of an infant's brain and lead to lower IQ levels. It could even cause long-term deficits in intelligence. So, what can parents do to ensure that their children do not ingest these substances?

1. Look at Rice Cereals

Almost all parents start their children on solid foods with cereals. Although cereals are fortified with iron and are easier to swallow and digest, they can contain inorganic arsenic. To avoid giving your child these toxins in cereals, you can choose multi-grains or oatmeal over rice cereals.

Brown rice also contains more inorganic arsenic than white rice. Even rice cakes, cereals, and kinds of pasta have been found to have significant amounts of inorganic arsenic. Instead, you can use white basmati rice, sourced from California, India, and Pakistan or sushi rice from the United States.

2. Choose Foods that Contain Less Heavy Metals

Some of the products that contain minimal toxic metals are apples, unsweetened apple sauce, avocados, bananas, beans, cheese, grapes, hard-boiled eggs, peaches, strawberries, and yogurt. They are not only healthy but also ensure that your baby does not ingest a damaging amount of toxins.

Also, avoid teething biscuits and veggies like carrots and sweet potatoes, which tend to absorb more toxins. Be wary of fruit juices because many of them also contain inorganic arsenic and lead.

3. Minimize Chocolate and Protein Powders

Cocoa powder can be contaminated with cadmium or lead, and several brands of protein powders contain arsenic, cadmium, and lead. If you use protein mixes, choose whey- and egg-based powders over plant-based variants.

Heavy metals can enter foods through pesticides and pollution, and they are also naturally present in the environment. Opting for baby food tested for heavy metals is a safe way to build a toxin-free diet for your infant. However, you cannot eliminate metals from meals entirely. They will be present in some amount, but you can minimize your child's exposure to them by making your own baby food or by buying organic baby food.