Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell has joined forces with her counterparts in 19 other states to urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take swift measures to shield kids from lead and other dangerous metals found in baby food. In a collective push for federal oversight, a letter penned by the coalition calls upon the FDA to abide by requests lodged in October 2021 and reaffirmed in June 2022, petitioning for mandatory testing of all finished baby food products for toxic metals, as reported by Mass.gov.
Campbell conveyed her concerns, stating, "The FDA must act on our urgent request to eliminate toxic contaminants in children’s food, including implementation of common-sense guidelines for food manufacturers to test and identify dangerous baby food products before they are sold." AG Campbell asserted her commitment to relentlessly pursue the safety and well-being of children. The call to action follows the findings of nearly 400 cases of child lead poisoning connected to tainted cinnamon applesauce pouches that hit the shelves unchecked for toxic metals.
While the FDA had acknowledged the amplified risks toxic metals pose to the more susceptible bodies and metabolisms of infants and youngsters, it has so far set a singular action level for only one type of toxic metal – inorganic arsenic – in solely one kind of baby food product, which is infant rice cereal. Current policies allow baby food manufacturers to optionally test their produce for toxic metals. Campbell and her allies have deemed this foot-dragging by the FDA as both a public health hazard and a matter of environmental justice, especially as low-income and minority communities bear a disproportionate brunt of lead exposure from multiple fronts.
The FDA had announced a "Closer to Zero" initiative back in April 2021, pledging to propose action levels for various toxic metals in baby foods. However, despite committing to quickly establish limits for lead by April 2022, and arsenic by April 2024, with plans for cadmium and mercury set for post-April 2024, the FDA has since scrubbed these target dates from its website. Following a denial of the 2021 petition, Campbell and her coalition aimed to urge the FDA to reconsider and to promptly safeguard families against these toxic elements in baby food products.
Parents have been warned against feeding their children recalled food products such as the implicated WanaBana, Schnucks, and Weis brand cinnamon applesauce pouches. These products, which were discovered to contain high levels of lead, were distributed in stores nationwide, including Dollar Tree outlets across Massachusetts. For details relating to the recall, consumers are directed to consult the FDA for further guidance. In addition, New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin have also banded together with Massachusetts, according to Mass.gov in calling upon the FDA to fulfill its duty of protection.
