October 21, 2021
Carson City, NV - Today, Attorney General Aaron D. Ford joined a coalition of 23 attorneys
general in petitioning the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to accelerate actions to remove toxic heavy metals found in
infant and toddler foods in order to
protect the health and well-being of babies across the United States. The petition responds to rising alarm about the health
hazards posed by dangerous heavy metals in these foods, and the failure of baby
food brands and their suppliers to aggressively reduce these hazards.
“As a father who has raised four
children, I understand the need to hold the FDA, baby food brands and their
suppliers accountable in monitoring the food being made for our children,” said
AG Ford. “I strongly urge the FDA to act on this issue and take steps to
protect our children.”
In February 2021,
the U.S. House of Representatives’ Oversight and Reform
Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy published a report that determined that there are high levels of
toxic heavy metals — including arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury — in baby foods being sold by
at least four of the nation’s seven largest manufacturers.
The subcommittee issued a follow-up report last month that urged the FDA “to move expeditiously to set limits for
arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in baby foods.”
Though the FDA does set limits
on toxic metals in other consumable products — like bottled water, juice, and
candy — the agency has failed to adequately regulate baby
food, and has, so far, only established one action
level for one type of heavy metal (inorganic arsenic) in one type of baby food
product (infant rice cereal). This lack of oversight comes despite the
fact that the FDA has concluded that babies’ and young children’s smaller body
sizes and metabolisms make them more vulnerable to the harmful neurotoxic
effects of these metals.
The petition sent by the
attorneys general seeks to strengthen protections for young children by
urging the FDA to issue interim action levels for limiting heavy
metal contamination in baby food more swiftly than the timelines announced
by the FDA in their “Closer to Zero plan” announced this past
April.
Under that plan, the FDA
would propose guidance on limiting lead in baby food by the
middle of 2022, guidance for limiting inorganic arsenic by April 2024, and
guidance for limiting cadmium and mercury sometime after April 2024. The
members of the “Baby Food Council” — a group created in 2019 by four
of the largest baby food brands — have not publicly committed to
meeting any particular voluntary targets for reducing the levels of heavy
metals in their products, pending FDA action.
Specifically, today’s petition
calls on the FDA to:
Propose
science-based, achievability-focused interim limits for inorganic arsenic,
lead, cadmium and mercury in relevant categories of infant and toddler foods;
Propose a lower limit for
inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal than that currently set forth in FDA
guidance; and
Instruct all baby food
manufacturers to test their finished products for toxic heavy
metals.
The coalition
of attorneys general urge the FDA to take these actions no later than
April 2022, the shortest timeframe for requesting FDA action on a petition
under the agency’s regulations.
In sending today’s
petition to the FDA, Attorney General Ford joins the attorneys general
of New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii,
Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New
Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont,
Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington.
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