The first days, months, and years of your baby’s life are probably the most important and most determining of the baby’s growth and health later in life. That is why the accent is always on the care and the food the baby eats. In the beginning, the baby is generally dependent on the mother’s milk, but as time goes, there is a bigger nutritional demand, so the mothers and parents, in general, rely on baby food.
Now, the idea of baby food is excellent; you get all the nutritional value for the baby made entirely so to fit the baby’s nutritional requirement, digestive abilities, and overall needs. But, when parents have to choose the best baby food for their little sunshine, it can lead to some difficult purchasing decisions. There are hundreds of different baby food manufacturers, all claiming their product is the most natural, organic, the healthiest, and so much more.
But, that isn’t always the case. There have been some huge cases and reports of the FDA discovering that some of baby food brands on the market produce food containing toxic chemicals and heavy metals like; cadmium, lead, mercury, pesticide residues, and plasticizers. Now, this is completely unacceptable and when you think about it, absolutely terrifying. If they’re putting these toxic components into baby food, what must they be putting into the food we, as adults eat?
Either way, these reports as cases are what brought us to write this article. In the following paragraphs, we’ll talk about the worst baby food brands you should avoid like the plague itself, as well as the good and safe alternatives you should check out. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
Baby Food Brands To Stay Away From
Gerber Baby Food
In the newest FDA reports (from October 2021), a number of baby food brands have been mentioned and accused of having toxic chemicals and heavy metals in their products. One such baby food brand is Gerber Baby Food. Now, the company claims these reports are completely false, of course, but it has agreed to the FDA committee’s request for an investigation.
Now, the investigation found that Gerber baby food, alongside other baby food brands we’ll talk about later, contains traces of cadmium, lead, mercury and arsenic. All of these toxic chemicals and heavy metals can be directly associated with health issues in children, like autism or attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD). This is generally enough of a reason to put a brand on the ‘worst’ list.
Beech-Nut Baby Food
With the FDA investigation discovery in regards to the baby food brands and product ingredients, several baby food brand names have been mentioned as the main culprits. One of the names in the reports was also the Beech-But Baby Food brand.
Just like Gerber, Beech-Nut products were also found to contain above-average amounts of toxic chemicals and heavy metals, including lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, etc. Now, the company claimed that their products contain naturally occurring, inorganic arsenic, which of course, was proven false.
Now, what happened after these reports? Well, the only Beech-Nut product that was recalled was the Single Grain Rice Cereal, while no other products were affected by the recall decision. Unfortunately, the FDA hasn’t done enough to ensure the Beech-Nut baby food becomes unavailable on the market. So, if you do come across some Beech-Nut baby food, make sure to save your money and find some other, better and healthier product.
Sprout Foods Baby Food
According to the FDA, Sprout Foods is another baby food company guilty of having high levels of toxic chemicals and heavy metals in its products. The company was also accused of mislabeling their products as ‘organic’, and ‘healthy’ when they in fact aren’t organic and are far from healthy.
The baby food from Sprout Foods was found to contain high levels of cadmium, arsenic, lead, and mercury, which are all associated with the aforementioned diseases in children, like autism and ADHD.
Now, unlike other companies that were found guilty of this terrifying practice in producing their baby foods, Sprout Foods was completely uncooperative and even decided to ask the federal judge to dismiss the toxic baby food class action lawsuit against them.
So, if you do come across Sprout Foods baby food, we strongly recommend you stay away from their products. This company is not only producing highly unhealthy baby food, but it also fails to recognize that mistake and cooperate in fixing their products and the overall situation. This simply shows that they don’t care about parents buying these products and putting their trust in Sprout Foods.
Hain Celestial (Earth’s Best Organic Baby Food)
Unfortunately, yet another known baby food company was deemed guilty of producing baby food with high levels of toxic chemicals and heavy metals. The Hain Celestial Group, known for its Earth’s Best Organic baby food is now a company known for allowing arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and lead in their products. The levels of these toxic chemicals and heavy metals exceed the government standards and therefore make the Hain baby food products completely unsafe for consumption.
However, despite all of these unbelievable claims and reports, Earth’s Best Organic baby food is still allowed in supermarkets across the country. The reason for this is that the Hain company doesn’t agree with the FDA reports and assessment and claim they follow the FDA regulations.
Because of this, if you do come across this brand of baby food, we strongly recommend you stay away from the Earth’s Best Organic baby food products. The Hain Company is willingly and knowingly keeping toxic baby products on the market, which puts millions of babies at risk of developing a serious health issue.
Other Companies With Questionable Baby Food Products
Nurture (Happy Family Organics & HappyBABY)
The FDA found that Nurture’s baby food brands Happy Family Organics & HappyBABY also contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals in the majority of the tested products. However, unlike any other company, Nurture was the only one to have actually tested the final product or the food that the babies would actually eat. This means that they’ve tested the food that contains all the ingredients.
However, despite the testing, the food still contained high levels of harmful components, which puts Nurture on this list. We recommend parents stay cautious about Nurture baby food brands and try to avoid them when possible.
Campbell Soup Co. (Plum Organics Baby Food)
Earlier this year, Campbell Soup Co. was accused of concealing the presence of heavy metals found in its baby food Plum brand. Of course, the company denies and dismisses these allegations, but the reports from the House Subcommittee on economic and Consumer Policy show that the Plum baby found contains dangerous levels of inorganic arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium.
Plum baby food products can still be found in supermarkets across the country. However, we strongly recommend you avoid these products since they can affect your baby’s health long-term, and no parent would want that for their child.
Walmart (Parent’s Choice Baby Food)
Walmart’s baby food brand Parent’s Choice is also one of the many baby food brands reported for containing high levels of toxic chemicals in their baby food products. Walmart, at first, refused to cooperate in the investigation that would support or denounce the claims, but later complied and agreed to recall the Parent’s Choice Rice Baby Cereal product for containing high levels of arsenic.
The explanation behind such high arsenic levels lies in the use of rice and its ability to absorb arsenic more than other food crops. So, by using rice in their products, the company knowingly risked selling products with higher arsenic levels. As a result, they’ve put millions of babies at risk of developing long-term health issues, like impaired intellectual development, autism, or ADHD.
Even though the product in question was recalled, you can still find the Parent’s Choice baby food in markets across the country. We strongly recommend you avoid buying products from this brand and opt for a better, higher-quality product.
So, Which Baby Food Brands Are The Best?
Else Nutrition
Else Nutrition is a company that provides plant-based products for infants and toddlers. The products are clean, plant-based without any soy, gluten, corn syrup, dairy, GMO, and other potentially harmful ingredients. Instead, the products are made with 50% less sugar, compared to other brands.
They also contain ingredients like almonds, buckwheat, and tapioca, to provide your child with natural sources of vitamin B, vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, polyphenols, healthy carbs, and proteins. Else Nutrition is recommended by registered pediatric dietitians and experts in the field as an excellent choice of infant and toddler nutrition.
Serenity Kids
Serenity Kids is a baby food company that was established by parents, Serenity and Joe Carr. As parents, they wanted to provide the best nutrition for their wonderful daughter and realized that the baby food on the market doesn’t really meet the needs and the quality requirements expected from baby food.
That is why the Serenity Kids baby food is truly revolutionary. The food is made with organic, natural ingredients without sweeteners, chemicals, sugars, GMOs, low-nutrition fillers (grains, legumes, and corn), and as well as allergens. Everything is made with supervision from top experts and doctors, and the packages of the food are recyclable through Terracycle.
Yumi
Yumi is a baby food manufacturer that provides freshly made baby and kids’ food and snacks. The food is plant-based and doesn’t contain GMOs, preservatives, dairy, added sugars, gluten, allergens, and is made from natural, organic ingredients sourced from the best farmers and providers.
Yumi is an award-winning brand as well, having won the Clean Label Project Purity award. This proves that the Yumi baby and kids’ food doesn’t contain heavy metals and other toxins, which makes it a safe choice for your baby’s nutrition. The in-house Yumi nutritionists can even make your customized baby food to meet your baby’s special needs and nutrition requirements as well.
Yummy Spoonfuls
Yummy Spoonfuls was established by Agatha Achindu, a mother and an entrepreneur, who grew up in Cameroon, West Africa, eating fresh, organically grown food. Because of her upbringing, she wanted to change and contribute to the American food system, by revolutionizing baby food.
The Yummy Spoonfuls baby food is made from high-quality organic whole fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and means. There are no preservatives, added sugars, additives, or fillers in this baby food. It is also, organic, clean, and non-GMO. Yummy Spoonfuls is a proud owner of the tested and certified Clean Label, which provest the purity and safety of this baby food. For the full ingredients list and more information, make sure to check out the Yummy Spoonfuls website.
Tiny Human Food
Tiny Human Food is a premium baby food producer with numerous award-winning recipes and products. The THF baby food is made with love and has children’s proper nutrition as its main goal. The company’s products are the cleanest on the market, and of course, are awarded the Purity Award.
The baby food is made entirely from organic vegetables and fruits and doesn’t contain pesticides, additives, added sugars, and other harmful components. Of course, heavy metals and toxic chemicals are out of the question when it comes to Tiny Human Food. The packaging of the food is recyclable, and you can even get bi-weekly or monthly packages featuring a selection of foods as well as the Tiny Human Food baby food.
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