Healthy Babies Bright Futures

A new study shows that puffs baby snacks made with rice have more arsenic than any other type of baby food, and high amounts of lead as well. These chemicals can permanently harm a child’s ability to learn. Healthy Babies Bright Futures has begun this petition to tell the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to do their job. The FDA is “responsible for protecting the public health by ensuring…the safety of our nation’s food supply.” We need FDA to get make baby foods safer, starting with healthier snacks on store shelves. One-fourth of all babies age 6 to 12 months eat puffs every day. The lead, arsenic and other heavy metals in rice-based puffs can harm a growing baby’s brain. HBBF's new study finds these toxic chemicals in every container tested. Baby food companies are showing that they know how to make rice-containing baby foods safer. Levels of arsenic in infant rice cereal are nearly 40% lower than what they were 10 years ago. But rice-based baby foods are still a problem. Levels need to be lower. And rice puffs have the highest levels of all. We’re calling on FDA to protect the health of babies by cutting down the levels allowed in rice-based baby foods sold in stores – including puffs baby snacks – to under 25 ppb for arsenic and 8 ppb for lead—levels comparable to what our tests found in safer non-rice alternatives. We believe parents should be able to give their baby any finger food at snack time without worrying about whether it could be a risk.  If you agree that the FDA should help parents safeguard their baby’s ability to learn and thrive, please sign and share this petition. Tell FDA it’s time to get the arsenic and lead out of our babies’ favorite foods!