Illinois recently enacted a law that requires baby food manufacturers to test their products for toxic elements (i.e., lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury). By January 2027, the results must be made publicly available for consumers.
As of July 1, 2025, new EU maximum levels for nickel—a heavy metal known to contaminate food, which can have acute and chronic health effects—went into effect for a range of foods. Additional limits for nickel in cereal will go into effect in July 2026.
This episode of Food Safety Five discusses a recent report showing that FDA has not met its mandated food inspection targets since 2018. Also covered are FDA’s new action levels for lead in foods for babies and children, and the success of Canadian regulations to control Salmonella in raw, frozen and breaded chicken products.
The Swedish Food Agency has published the results of its latest food basket survey, which show a decreasing trend in the levels of dioxin and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure. Dioxins and salt remain the largest health risks.
Babylife Organics has become the second U.S. baby food producer to announce a product testing initiative guided by EU standards; specifically, for toxic heavy metals, tested at four points along production, and measured in parts-per-billion.
Baby food producer Little Spoon is the first U.S. company in the sector to promise to never sell product that exceeds EU-aligned limits for toxic heavy metals, pesticides, and plasticizers, and to voluntarily publicize its product testing results.
Senator Cory Booker’s Safe School Meals Act proposes widespread reforms that would reduce the presence of toxic heavy metals, pesticides, artificial food dyes, and chemicals in school lunches, and would mandate research to progress remediation methods for environmental contaminants polluting farms.
A recent University of Delaware study has shown that, although certain irrigation management approaches can reduce the levels of either cadmium or arsenic in rice crops, irrigation management may not be able to simultaneously mitigate both of the chemicals.
A new study has revealed how leafy greens like spinach absorb various toxic metals differently and offers strategies to reduce uptake, highlighting practical solutions for farmers, food processors, and consumers.
