95% of food products intended for toddlers contain heavy metals, such as lead, arsenic and mercury.
- In children, too high a blood concentration of heavy metals can lead to neurological disorders.
This is the kind of information that makes parents of young children shudder. In the USA, a report from the US Congress found the presence of heavy metals in baby foods at levels well above what the federal government considers safe for children.
According to this study, of 168 toddler food products, 95% contained at least one heavy metal, especially those containing rice, root vegetables such as carrots or sweet potato.
Adverse effects on the health of children
This figure is all the more worrying as the concentration levels recorded are high, which can have harmful effects on the health of children in the long term. Thus, as reported by the American site The Conversation, the Food and Drug Administration, the US federal health agency, considers 3 micrograms per day or more to be of concern in children, well below the level set for adults (12.5 micrograms per day). High blood lead levels are associated with major neurological problems, including behavioral problems like attention deficit disorder and aggression.
How to explain such a concentration of heavy metals in food, especially food intended for children? In reality, it is the soils and the waters they contain that are contaminated with heavy metals. But when food is grown in contaminated soil and irrigated with water containing heavy metals, food too becomes contaminated. Additionally, additional heavy metals may be introduced during manufacturing processes.
Reduce the consumption of heavy metals
For parents who do not have time to cook small dishes at each meal and therefore have to fall back on small industrial pots, it is however possible to prevent their children from being exposed to heavy metals.
First, it is advisable to reduce the consumption of rice products, including rice cereals and biscuits. According to a study, opting for foods based on oats, corn, barley or quinoa would reduce the risk of ingestion of arsenic by 84%, and the total content of heavy metals by about 64%. It is also recommended to avoid giving fruit juice to toddlers, which are very sweet and a source of heavy metals. Replacing them with water would reduce heavy metal consumption by around 68%, the report says.
Finally, it is important to alternate between root vegetables (carrot, parsnip, beetroot, celeriac, potato, etc.) with other vegetables, whose contact with the soil is less important, and which are therefore less likely to have high concentrations of heavy metals. Replacing carrots or sweet potatoes with other vegetables could reduce the total heavy metal content that day by about 73%.