Some veggie puffs contain high levels of lead, Consumer Reports finds
Some veggie puffs made by Lesser Evil and Serenity Kids contain concerning levels of lead, a heavy metal linked to developmental and other disabilities in children, according to findings released Wednesday by Consumer Reports.
Parents may see veggie puffs, marketed as a healthy alternative to sugar-laden snacks, as a way to make foods like beets, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes palatable for kids. But certain cassava-based brands have excessive amounts of lead or other heavy metals, making even a single serving unhealthy in the case of one product, the advocacy group cautioned.
Troublesome levels of lead were found in both Lesser Evil puff products tested and one from Serenity Kids, Consumer Reports found. Lesser Evil’s Lil’ Puffs Intergalactic Voyager Veggie Blend puffs had more lead per serving than any of the 80 baby foods the watchdog has tested since 2017, the group noted.
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Sami Rosnov, chief of operations at Corner Market Communications, which represents Lesser Evil, told Consumer Reports that lead occurs in nature “due to years of pollution and contamination in our water and soil.”
Serenity Kids also defended the company’s products, including its testing and quality assurance practices.
“Our puffs are and have always been safe for consumption. All of our products test well below the Maximum Allowable Dose Levels (MADLs) established by California Proposition 65,” the company said in a statement.
“We have always addressed lead and all heavy metals head on because we are confident in the safety of our products and ingredients, and because we believe that our products are healthier than the alternatives that exist today,” the company added.
In a statement, Once Upon a Farm also noted that heavy metals occur naturally in the environment, making them “virtually impossible” to avoid. “Our standard is to minimize their presence to consumable levels in all our products,” the company told CBS MoneyWatch.
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Once Upon a Farm said it also seeks to reduce heavy metals in its products by using organic ingredients from global regions that have taken steps to lower risks and by testing the materials most likely to contain metals. Emily Luna, baby brand manager at Once Upon a Farm, also said the company chose sorghum for its puffs in part because it’s less likely to contain heavy metals than rice or cassava.
The findings follow the release of separate results in April in which Consumer Reports found that Lunchables, another popular food product for kids, contains troublesome levels of lead and sodium.
“The classification of foods should be based on scientific evidence that includes an assessment of the nutritional value of the whole product, not restricted to one element such as a single ingredient or the level of processing,” a spokesperson for Kraft Heinz said in defending the 35-year-old brand.
A government report in 2021 found that baby food made by several of the nation’s biggest manufacturers had “significant levels” of substances including lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, prompting the FDA to propose limits on arsenic, lead and mercury in baby food.
Kate Gibson
Source: cbsnews.com