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bloomberglaw OP t1_j3sawgb wrote

Reply to comment by KenEsq in We’re the investigative team at Bloomberg Law and wrote a story on toxics metals in baby food. AMA! by bloomberglaw

It's safe to say the companies, which manufacture and sell these products, know the metal content in them. I think in most cases, they would argue they're doing a good job and do not have "high" levels. That, of course, is what's up for debate - what's low enough?

The House subcommittee that investiated argues the levels are not low enough.

You can read their findings here and here. (Didn't link to the source on the House website because with the new Congress, their location has changed.)

- Gary

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CaptainIncredible t1_j3sk9h3 wrote

HOW does the metal content get into the product?

Is it from 'slop' in the manufacturing process? Are these metals somehow inherent in the food chain?

Correct me if I am wrong, but from what I understand, something like a baby food jar of carrots is basically carrots. They take carrots, boil them until they are soft, mash them, package them, and sell them.

Is the metal content somehow in the carrots themselves because it was in the soil? Is it from pesticides or fertilizer? Is the metal somehow introduced during the production process?

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bloomberglaw OP t1_j3srng9 wrote

Most of the metals found in baby foods are absorbed by the plants they are made from as they grow.

Think of it like this: Processes like mining and manufacturing release tiny particles of metal into the air. Those particles eventually fall to the ground, get in the groundwater and end up being absorbed by crops like rice and carrots as they grow.

When those crops are picked they already contain most if not all of the heavy metals the final, manufactured baby foods will contain. That's why Health Babies Bright Futures just released a report on managing the foods in even homemade baby foods.

Two things happen during the food manufacturing process that can increase that content. First, simply concentrating the vegetables or grains also can concentrate the levels of metals. That jar of baby food doesn't contain one carrot, it's a lot of carrots. The second is that vitamins and minerals added to baby foods can also contain small amounts of heavy metals. - Gary

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Jfish033 t1_j3sdh86 wrote

This is slander at best. Do yall actually know what your talking about or just going for money. Things that are grown in soil will ALWAYS have lead in them. It leaches up from the soil where These DANGEROUS HEAVY METALS are naturally occuring and here naturally. Unless you want babies eating entirely processed foods your getting lead. Its ok.

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Shtune t1_j3seay3 wrote

The amount of lead is what they're arguing is unsafe if you would have read what they posted.

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Jfish033 t1_j3seyyl wrote

Yeah but its not unsafe. Did you know you consumed lead today, 100%. If these people were actually smart they would have research showing lead results for varies grown vegetables showing that the product should have lower amounts. Instead they just say its unsafe and not actually comparing it to anything. I mean if carrots have a average amount of lead of 10ppb and your carrot baby food has 10ppb what can you do? Not sell carrots or figure out what chemicals you can add to your process to remove the metal. Do you want more processed foods for your baby or more natural...

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By the way the lead and heavy metals are most likely coming from veggies. Its in all soil grown food.

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DerHeinzW t1_j3sggad wrote

But soil itself has different amounts of lead. For example, some soil is still contaminated by the use of leaded fuel which has been banned for a while now. The question is not where the lead comes from, but whether the level is considered acceptable or not. A developing brain does not care whether unsafe amounts of lead come from soil or somewhere else. That is the only question I’m interested in settling here: Are these amounts unsafe or not.

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DerHeinzW t1_j3shu7v wrote

I don’t understand why I’m downvoted. How is this a controversial opinion? I want to know whether the amount of lead in the food, no matter whether that lead comes from soil or anywhere else, is harmful or not.

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Jfish033 t1_j3sjto2 wrote

ANY amount of lead at all above zero is bad. The problem is your not going to live one day without any lead consumed. I think if you realize they are taking about 15 PPB (parts per billion) you will laugh your butt off. Its literally 15 parts of lead per billion. If you ate 1 billion pieces of sand you would get 15 pieces of lead. So if you ate the whole beach youd get 15 sand granules of lead. Seriously its stupid, i think smelling a fart is worse for your mind and body then this stuff they are talking about.

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DerHeinzW t1_j3skydz wrote

This „any amount is bad“ does not help. Obviously there is at least a rough limit of lead per day consumed that will not significantly affect a developing brain, vs. an amount that does. I am interested in that limit, and whether it is exceeded here or not.

It’s really not a difficult concept. They might be right, you might be right, but so far I see nothing at all to convince me of either. I know how parts per billion work, I do not know what quantities of lead affect brain development or not.

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Jfish033 t1_j3vxela wrote

There is literally no amount that is not bad for you. With this much discussion you can easily go research on the internet and see this. Takes like 5-10 minutes to learn your answer. You've ingested ALOT of lead in your life and your okay. The problem is you cant say lead is ok because it actually does harm your body. IF you wanted to raise the smartest baby in the world i think then you might consider looking into lead consumption but if you just want a healthy baby like every other human in this world then you would probably prioritize them eating veggies vs concerned about lead content of said veggies.

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Jfish033 t1_j3tafk6 wrote

Theres none that is safe, zero. It all degrades brain receptors. You ever smell a fart? You probably lost more brain cells from that. You are not thinking to well. 15 PARTS PER BILLION. Please research how much a billion is and realize your talking about something probably 1/100 the size of a piece of sand.

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Jfish033 t1_j3sidmf wrote

No amount of lead is safe according the the WHO and USA government. Zero. That's the problem. Its not the level its what should be deemed normal amount vs not normal. And these PPB amounts are really low as is. Yes varying soil has different amounts, the problem is they all have some. My whole point is where is the labs for multiple samples of each vegetable to show some form of bad judgments by the manufactures. The fact the manufactures say there doing a good job, you might have to believe them until proven otherwise. Its a stupid lawsuit trying to grab money because unless they dont use naturally grown foods they will have lead, but these people above can sue and win because the law has limits that are not set according to enough research and thought.

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Root grown veggies have the most heavy metals being that the distance to leech is much less. Potatoes, carrots, thing found in baby foods and our foods.

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DerHeinzW t1_j3sk0g4 wrote

> No amount of lead is safe according the the WHO and USA government. Zero. That's the problem. Its not the level its what should be deemed normal amount vs not normal. And these PPB amounts are really low as is.

The original text says the proposed limit would be between 5 ppb vs. 15 ppb. Would that be a reasonable limit? Is that being exceeded here?

There must be some level that makes sense. We can’t let obviously contaminated soil with lead levels that will definitely cause cognitive issues be acceptable, so where is the line.

> The fact the manufactures say there doing a good job, you might have to believe them until proven otherwise.

Why would I care about what the manufacturer thinks or says? I care about whether the levels of heavy metal are safe or not.

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Jfish033 t1_j3t9ukk wrote

No amount of lead is safe. Contaminated soil.... Its in all soil everywhere always. Its naturally in all soil, since forever. Your baby will be no dumber then you are because of 15ppb. Do you think your parents were worried about lead? Your overthinking things, maybe its the lead you consumed from when you were a baby lol.

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Jfish033 t1_j3talck wrote

The whole earth is also contaminated from the 1000+ nuclear bombs we detonated in the air, that blew throughout the globe. You'll be OK, we adapt.

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