It's safe to say the companies, which manufacture and sell these products, know the metal content in them. I think in most cases, they would argue they're doing a good job and do not have "high" levels. That, of course, is what's up for debate - what's low enough?

The House subcommittee that investiated argues the levels are not low enough.

You can read their findings here and here. (Didn't link to the source on the House website because with the new Congress, their location has changed.)

- Gary

In your opinion, is this the fault of the FDA, or lawmakers for not providing the FDA with the necessary tools to combat this issue?

Kazakh is a whole ethnic group of peoples, like ‘Mongolians’ or ‘Sami’ people. Some or nomadic, some are not. Some live in Kazakhstan, some in Russian or Mongolia, some in China, etc. Some have never herded at all and live in a city. Every person in an ethnic group does not do the same thing, or herd the same animals. I saw some that owned a lot of camels though I never stayed or interacted with those Kazakhs. I call them goat herders because the Kazakh group I stayed with had a few horses, but mostly yaks and goats.

Is this all just to support someones short position? upcoming short position? or to lessen the burden for an acquisition ? or to help box up and trash a company so competitors can further monopolize their market share ?

Hard to believe this is done for utruistic purposes

Both peoples have very different food than I was accustomed to, for sure. Not a lot of vegetables. In Siberia they eat a lot of raw meat, in Tavan Bogd they drink so much of this lard+milk+tea drink (it’s very thick and rich). I did partake of everything, as both groups are very pushy about eating. Sometimes it was hard, especially at first as my stomach took a while to adjust and my bathroom breaks were not fun. To this day there are certain foods that just the thought of makes me have a sour taste in my mouth (preserved/pickled duck) and my stomach never grew to like par boiled animal intestines. Both groups like them. But, I loved the dried bread of the Kazakh nomads, and they have certain animal meat that I ended up really loving and sometimes still crave.

In terms of litigation, some of the class action suits out there now, which focus on advertising and claims made by the companies, have stalled or been thrown out. The lawsuit by the Cantabrana family focusing on whether their son has autism continues. I think the science will continue evolve and if the link between health problems and these metals continues to get stronger, more lawsuits are likely and that could drive change. People are going to continue to study this.

- Gary

What made you choose to quote an organisation like the EWG, who are not considered credible by the scientific community, over toxicologists?

Are the companies that sell these products knowingly selling these products with high metal content or is it negligence on the part of people in the manufacturing process?

>Any amount can cause health problems

Simply not the case.

Even in your OP, the post says "significant" instead of "detectable." You're abusing language to sensationalize the issues, and losing credibility with anyone who has any background in environmental toxicology, which would include the people at the agencies you're expecting to do something.

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>The more you eat of a given food, the more metals from that food build up in your system.

This is a high-school level of understanding of biomagnification. It doesn't work like that.

​

There is a story here, as there are some baby foods tested that had heavy metal limits above what the EPA has set for drinking water. That's not a health crisis, as no baby is sucking down liters of the same baby food every day, but it is something that should get more attention.

But stop.

This is why scientists hate journalists.

Stop sensationalizing it. Stop overselling your findings.

You sent some samples to a lab. You got results.

You can pander to your readers and maybe even some legislators, but you'll get ridiculed and ignored by the regulators and industry.

But you're more about page clicks than public health anyway...

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As well all know, money is the way to force change. So, do you think regulation through litigation is the answer here? A class action suit, or thousands of individual suits against the manufacturers and FDA would be enough to force change in the ways that allow metals to end up in the food?

Great question. Heavy metals in baby foods is an issue that has existed for some time. But as former FDA associate commissioner for foods David Acheson told us in an interview, the FDA's response to heavy metals has been one of "putting out fires" rather than implementing a "fundamental strategic plan.”

Lawmakers have put pressure on FDA to address this, and as Congress looked into heavy metals in baby food in 2021, the FDA started its new program Closer to Zero program aiming to set standards and lower concentrations of lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury.

It's likely we will see continued pressure on the FDA on this. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) told us he plans to introduce a bill again this Congress, called the Baby Food Safety Act. The legislation would limit the levels of inorganic arsenic to between 10 and 15 ppb, cadmium and lead to between 5 and 10 ppb and mercury to 2 ppb — a more stringent standard for all baby foods than Closer to Zero’s guidance on juices.

--Celine Castronuovo

Is there a chance the FDA will ever be taken to task on their lack of regulation?

For this story, we focused specifically on heavy metal concentrations in baby foods and the FDA's policy in this area. Studies we mention in our story show how early heavy metal exposure can lower IQ, slow development, and create other serious health problems. --Celine Castronuovo

Good question! Any amount can cause health problems but whether it’s possible to fully eliminate these metals is debatable. Many of the people talked to for this story say that's not realistic. You want as little as you can.

The proposed Baby Food Safety Act set limits at between 5 ppb and 15 ppb, depending on the metal and whether or not it is cereal. The reason for the variation is that it depends on how much of a food kids are expected to eat and what that food’s metal content is projected to be as to what’s considered tolerable. The more you eat of a given food, the more metals from that food build up in your system.

For instance, the guidances the FDA has outlined for lead in juice products are 10 ppb for apple juice and 20 ppb for other juices. The thinking is that kids consume more apple juice than others.

The doctors I talked for this story believe 5 ppb is a reasonable upper limit.

- Gary

Have you looked into the heavy metals commonly found in tatoo ink made in the US? The EU Commission has a great study on the common use of lead, cadmium, and other dangerous metals in almost all US based inks. Also, what about heavy metal transfers, in utero, by the mother to children before birth (e.g. Minamata Bay or from other sources such as smoking (polonium poisoning))?

For more AMAs on this topic, subscribe to r/IAmA_Journalist, and check out our other topic-specific AMA subreddits here.

We are porting over one question we got from the story on social media:

"While the article shows the ppb results for various heavy metals, what concentrations of heavy metals are problematic or, conversely, tolerable?"

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What was their physical condition like? Did they, on average seem healthy, happy, and content? What was the hygiene and medical practice like?

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Any interesting food that you ate? Or had a hard time getting used to?

When you were with the reindeer, did they let you join in any reindeer games?

How yo do #1 and #2? And there is drainage over there? Or where do you store the #1 and #2?

Absolutely!!! In fact that is one of the greatest joys I have. Going back to see the children as they have gone on to achieve success. Education, careers, marriage. I have seen it all and it fills me with joy!

I always am so filled with excitement when they send me all their updates and news.