Beech-Nut went organic six years ago, and they make some nutritious blends that contain just mixed fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, the 2021 Congressional Report revealed that Beech-Nut continued to use ingredients after internal testing found them to have very high levels of a variety of heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, and cadmium.
Earth’s Best‘s parent company, Hain, was called out in the 2021 Congressional Report for setting its own dangerously high heavy metal internal standards, and then routinely accepting ingredients that surpassed these standards. In addition, even their simplest flavors (pears, for instance) are fortified with all sorts of stuff, including zinc sulfate, and citric acid.
HappyBABY, under the parent company Nuture, makes pouches that contain nutritious blends of vegetables and grains, and high quality proteins like wild Alaskan salmon. I would like to give them credit for testing for mercury, but the 2021 Congressional Report revealed that their test data shows finished food products with as much as 10 ppb of this neurotoxic (the recommendation is that it should not exceed 5 ppb). Nuture is also called out in the report for claiming that they used a standard of 50 ppb for lead, and then later submitting test documents showing that their standard was actually of 100 ppb.
Noka isn’t marketed for babies, but a lot of you asked about this brand. Noka is organic and I love that their pouches are hearty with things like nut butters included. Unfortunately, Noka pouches contain non-whole-food ingredients, like brown rice protein, natural flavors, and sunflower lecithin.
Plum Organics refused to comply when asked to submit heavy metal testing data to the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy in 2019, which makes them default Sneaky Stuff. Plum claims that they “responded quickly to their questions and never refused anything requested of us.” Also, it’s a little sneaky that the “grains” in these blends are actually grain flours (i.e., millet flour, oat flour, etc.) Some of Plum’s other toddler snacks contain sugar. (Note that Plum is owned by Campbell.)
Parent’s Choice is another brand that didn’t cooperate with the investigation into heavy metals in 2019. A 2021 lawsuit claims that “The Subcommittee found [Parent’s Choice’s] lack of transparency greatly concerning, fearing that they might be obscuring the presence of higher levels of toxic heavy metals in their baby food products than their competitors’ products.”
Sprout Foods faces a class suit in the state of California, USA, for “negligent, reckless, and/or intentional practice of misrepresenting and failing to fully disclose the presence of dangerous substances in its baby foods.”
61 comments
Anne
Hello, the while leaf provisions and serenity kids section have the same description. Can you please update this to compare?
Liz
Was I living under a rock?? I had no idea about these heavy metal reports and thought I was doing good when I offered my twins pouches….plum organic are their favorites. They are 3 now but I wonder what kind of heavy metal load they have. I didn’t hear anything about this in any of the mom groups either.
Steph
What about mamma chia pouches?
lisa
What do you think of Safe Catch brand, for fish to give to babies eating solids?
Thanks,Lisette
hello. My baby is about to start food in a month. The recent toxicity report of baby foods is obviously very disconcerting. Are there any safe ones out there?
Karen Chiasson
What do you think of the Love Child pouches?
Lien Phuong
I don’t see GoGo Squeeze in the revision. Thoughts?
Meghan
Hi, I use the Earth’s Best pouches because they are the only ones I can find (although I will now check out Beech Nut) that have options that are just veggies, versus a mix of veggies and fruit, so there is about 10 grams less sugar in them. On the package the only ingredients listed are the two veggies and water. Are you saying that the other additives are in there but not required to be listed on the packaging? Thanks!
Batia Lavi
Most pouch ingredients mention “fruit puree” and “vegetable puree” instead of whole food, which means the brand buys the food as pureed and then create their own flavor mix. All of that cooking and recooking and pasturizing must kill most of the nutrients and turn the food to sugar concentrates, any research on the actual benefits in the food?
Julia Wilkinson Manley
Our baby is on a keto-like diet for seizure control. Do you happen to know of any trust-worthy low carb packets? The Serenity Kids is likely the closest on your list, but I didn’t look at the label. Would be helpful to have packets I can easily stash in the diaper bag for emergencies or for days when I’m stressed to the max.