The U.S. baby food industry has seen its fair share of advocacy and regulatory headlines in recent years. Most recently, FDA released its Draft Guidance for Industry: Action Levels for Lead in Food Intended for Babies and Young Children. Is this regulatory focus on heavy metals a one-off, or an overview of things to come for the collective industry? This article will discuss the consumer and regulatory drivers of recent years, and also explore the congressional investigation and FDA's subsequent Closer to Zero effort. It will also discuss the latest developments and what moves can be expected next from FDA. 

According to new tests by Consumer Reports, although the amounts of lead, arsenic, and cadmium in baby foods appear to be getting lower, the overall risk hasn’t changed much in the last five years.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a webinar to provide an overview of recently established action levels for lead in food intended for babies and children, as well as to answer stakeholder questions. The action levels were set out in a draft guidance, titled, Action Levels for Lead in Food Intended for Babies and Young Children, in January 2023, in support of FDA’s Closer to Zero initiative.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced new recommended action levels for lead in certain processed baby foods. The proposed action levels supports the Closer to Zero initiative to continually reduce babies’ and young children’s exposure to toxic heavy metals from food.

Safe Food for Infants in the EU and China (SAFFI) recently published three papers that lay new groundwork for advancing global infant food safety.

Consumer Reports cited recent government test results and recalls in asking baby food companies to suspend sales of infant rice cereals.

In a new update, the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee says that testing practices for toxic heavy metals in baby foods are flawed.

As Chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, Congressman Krishnamoorthi initiated an investigation into toxic metals in baby food to find alarming levels from a variety of companies. In response, the Congressman has introduced the Baby Food Safety Act. In addition, the FDA responded to the Oversight investigation by introducing their “Closer to Zero” campaign, but the campaign does not go far enough nor fast enough.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced a new action plan that aims to reduce exposure to toxic elements in foods commonly eaten by babies and young children, to the lowest possible levels. 

The Acting U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. and Susan Mayne, Ph.D., Director, FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, recently released a statement about toxicity in baby foods and food for young children.