Some Kids’ Fruit Purée Pouches Have Concerning Lead Levels, CR's Tests Find

CR tested two or three samples of each of the 10 products. The lead levels were not only well below what was found in the recalled products but also below a level that the FDA is currently considering as a limit for the heavy metal in most baby and toddler food. 

But in two of the products—Earth’s Best Organic Sweet Potato, Cinnamon Flax & Oat Pouch and Mama Bear Organic Apple, Banana, Cinnamon, Oats Pouch—the levels were high enough that kids should eat less than one serving per day, says Eric Boring, PhD, a CR chemist who oversaw the testing. And for a third—Gerber Natural for Toddler Apple, Sweet Potato & Cinnamon Pouch—Boring says kids should have less than two servings per day.

Note that CR’s tests could not identify which ingredient or ingredients contained the lead in the products we tested.

Last January, the FDA proposed a limit of 10 parts per billion for most baby and toddler foods made from fruits, vegetables, or mixed foods. CR’s food safety experts think those levels are too high. That’s because the FDA’s limits are per product, while CR’s limits are based on a total daily lead intake for a baby or toddler, says Brian Ronholm, CR’s director of food policy.

Lead exposure has been linked to an increased risk of developmental problems in children, such as lower IQs, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and autism. “The less lead in a child’s diet, the better,” Ronholm says. “Regularly consuming even small amounts of lead can, over the long term, be worrisome when you consider a child’s total daily intake from everything they eat or drink.” 

An FDA spokesperson told CR that a final decision on lead levels isn’t expected until 2025, and that the FDA is going “through a thorough process to understand the levels of contaminants in the food supply, the potential for health risks from dietary exposure to the contaminant, and what levels are feasible for industry to achieve.”

But Ronholm says that there’s enough evidence now to suggest that lead limits should be stricter. Ideally, he says, no lead should be detected in food meant for babies and toddlers. “These recent tests as well as previous CR baby food tests have shown us that it’s possible.” 

Jane Houlihan, research director for the nonprofit advocacy group Healthy Babies Bright Futures, says that while the FDA recognizes that food is a major source of lead for many children, the agency is moving too slowly. “So the burden is on companies and parents in the meantime to try to minimize exposure for children,” she says.

We contacted the three companies with the highest lead levels in CR’s tests—Amazon (which owns Mama Bear), Hain (which owns Earth’s Best), and Gerber—with questions about their products. 

All three said their products tested well below the FDA’s 10 parts per billion proposed limit for most baby foods. Hain and Gerber also said they test their individual ingredients and finished products for heavy metals. 

Hain added that it annually reviews potential sources of heavy metals in its supply chain and manufacturing processes. 

And Gerber said it is working with farmers to reduce heavy metals in foods by “approving fields before crops are planted based on soil testing” and is partnering with academic researchers to limit the uptake of lead in sweet potatoes, which some research shows can have particularly high levels of the heavy metal.

In addition to limiting consumption of the fruit purées in our testing that were higher in lead, there are several other steps parents can take to limit a child’s exposure to heavy metals. 

Choose foods that tend to be lower in heavy metals. These include most fresh and frozen fruit, peas, green beans, and butternut squash, as well as cheese, yogurt, eggs, lentils, chickpeas, and baby food meats. 

Give babies and children a variety of whole foods. When possible, try not to serve the same food meal after meal or day after day. “Doing so could mean you accidentally are concentrating a particular contaminant in your child’s diet,” Houlihan says.

Limit fruit juices, puffs, and wafer snacks, and rice-based cereals. In previous CR tests, some fruit juices, puffs, and wafers were found to contain heavy meals. Consider instead infant cereals made from oats and other whole grains—except rice. Both white rice and brown rice are often high in arsenic. However, you can lower arsenic levels by 40 to 60 percent if you make it yourself and cook it in a large amount of water, according to the FDA. 

Test your drinking water. That’s an especially good idea if your home was built before 1986 (when lead pipes in homes were banned). If lead levels are elevated, you can install a filtration system to help rid water of the toxins. 

Consider a heavy metals test for your child if you believe they’ve been exposed to lead. The results of blood tests for lead in North Carolina, where the WanaBana issue was first detected, “were the critical clue that helped uncover sky-high lead levels in some of the recently recalled cinnamon applesauce brands,” Houlihan says. Check with your pediatrician about whether your child should be tested. If you don’t have one, visit a federal health clinic, which is income-based and could be free. Find a health clinic near you. The CDC offers detailed information about the testing.