Arsenic is a toxin proven to cause cancer. It can also permanently harm a child’s ability to learn. One of the biggest sources of children’s Arsenic exposure is infant rice cereal. This is why Healthy Babies Bright Futures started a petition to tell Gerber, a leading producer of infant foods, to reduce the arsenic in our children’s rice cereal.
Infant rice cereal is one of babies’ first foods, and naturally occurring arsenic in rice can be harmful for a growing baby’s brain. In fact, studies have found arsenic in every container of rice cereal that has been tested and it is the #1 source of arsenic for babies.
Gerber has already demonstrated that they can be a leader in this effort to make rice cereal safer. Just last year, the company took its infant brown rice cereal off the market (brown rice has the highest arsenic levels). Now, we’re calling on Gerber to cut down the level of arsenic to 25 ppb – a level comparable to amounts our tests found in its multi-grain infant cereal.
We believe parents should be able to feed their baby a spoonful of cereal without worrying about whether it could be a risk. It’s time for Gerber to take action.
If you agree that Gerber should help parents protect their child’s ability to learn and thrive, please sign and share this petition. Tell Gerber it’s time to cut the arsenic in our babies’ cereal!
