These recommendations from CR food safety experts and nutritionists will help you minimize your child’s heavy metal intake, while maintaining an overall healthy diet.
Limit your child’s intake of higher risk baby food. These include rice, sweet potatoes, apple juice, and grape juice. “These often have concerning levels of arsenic, in particular,” says Dickerson. Rice cereal was once considered the best first baby food, but the FDA, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations say it is not the only option. Other whole grains, like oatmeal, are good options. In CR’s 2018 tests, eating fewer than 2.5 servings per day (one serving is ½ cup) of the baby oatmeal cereals we tested did not pose a risk.
Drink fruit juice gently. CR’s 2019 fruit juice tests found high levels of lead and arsenic in several products. The subcommittee report also noted excessive levels of heavy metals in fruit juice. Also, fruit juice is not as nutritious as parents may think. “Even 100 percent fruit juice offers no nutritional benefit over whole fruit,” says Amy Keating, RD, Consumer Reports nutritionist. “It can add extra calories to a child’s diet, and heavy drinking has been linked to tooth decay (cavities) and can lead to weight gain and obesity.” The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting the amount of fruit juice that children drink and that babies under one year of age not get juice at all. For babies, formula or breast milk should be the only drink they ingest. For older children, water and milk are the best options.
Consider making your own. There is no reason why a child or baby cannot eat the same foods as the rest of the family. This will not completely reduce the amount of heavy metals in the diet; depending on the food, it can have naturally higher levels. But it eliminates the risk of heavy metals from additives used in food.
Of course, the food must be age appropriate and prepared in a way that facilitates the intake of food for the child. “At first, it is best if the food has a very smooth texture. For example, you can cook some broccoli and puree or mash some avocado for your baby, ”Keating says. Talk to your pediatrician about ways to make sure your child is getting enough vitamins and minerals, as many baby foods are enriched or fortified with certain nutrients.
Making yours also means that you can potentially reduce the heavy metals in rice. In CR’s 2014 tests, white basmati rice from California, India, and Pakistan, and sushi rice from the US, had on average half the inorganic arsenic of most other types. Also, cooking rice like you would pasta (in a large amount of water and then drain it) reduces the arsenic content of the rice.
Minimize snacking on baby food. Snacks, teething cookies, and pretzels are among the products most likely to be high in heavy metals. Plus, Keating says, they are highly processed foods. “They tend to have a lot more things that they don’t want in their diet (additives, added sugars, sodium and refined flours) and more and more research shows that highly processed foods are harmful to overall health, possibly increasing the risk of cancer, heart disease and obesity, “he says.
Vary the foods you feed your child. When you eat a variety of different types of whole foods, you get a variety of nutrients. So alternate the vegetables you feed your child, for example. Additionally, food rotation can help you avoid overconsumption of heavy metals and provide nutrients (such as vitamin C and zinc) that can help offset some of the damage heavy metals do to the body.
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