Shocking study reveals that nearly 40% of conventional baby food sold in the USA contains toxic pesticides
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Back in 2008, parents of young children in China were worried. A well-known manufacturer of baby milk formula had been discovered to have been adding the chemical melamine to their products in order to increase the nitrogen content. Unfortunately, though, the melamine was found to cause kidney stones and other kidney damage in some of the babies. More than 300,000 Chinese babies were impacted, of which 54,000 were hospitalised and six died.
It was a shocking event, but one that many parents thought was a one-off. And while we have fortunately never had a poisoning event of this scale since, a new study in the USA has revealed that a worrying number of conventional baby foods sold in the US contain toxic pesticides.
The research carried out by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) examined 73 products. Fifty-eight of these were conventional baby food products and 15 were organic. Of the non-organic baby food products analysed 22 of them, or 38 per cent, were found to contain at least one pesticide. Many of them contained more than one, and often the substances could be considered a danger to the health of the baby. Of the fully organic baby food products tested, none were found to contain toxic pesticides.
Pesticides found in the baby food included Fludioxonil, which, although often used on fruit and vegetables, is considered harmful to fetal development. Captan, which is linked to cancer and a neonicotinoid insecticide which is harmful to both insects and humans.
The study found that apple-based products were the ones most likely to contain high levels of pesticide residue followed by blueberries, pears and strawberries.
The report authors suggest shoppers read baby food labels when choosing what to buy, because ‘We discovered several products for which apples were listed as an ingredient but not advertised as a key flavour’.
But, the report did contain some good news. The first was a marked improvement over the results of a similar study carried out in 1995 that found that 55 per cent of baby food products tested contained toxic pesticides, and that the pesticides found in today’s baby food are not generally as strong as those discovered nearly 30 years ago. The other bit of good news was that none of the organic products tested contained any traces of pesticides and, with the price of organic foods falling, it’s increasingly affordable to feed your newborn safer organic meals. So, when they say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, they might be better off saying an organic apple a day keeps the doctor away.
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