FDA Issues Guidance for Industry on Action Levels for Lead in Baby Foods
The FDA expects over time for this guidance, together with other activities, to result in industry progressively reducing levels of lead in foods to as low as possible.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Children: Draft Guidance for Industry.” As the agency outlined in Closer to Zero, it expects over time for this guidance, together with other activities, to result in industry progressively reducing levels of lead in foods to as low as possible. The FDA says that the draft guidance supports its goal of reducing dietary exposure to lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, and the associated health effects, while maintaining access to nutritious foods.
Foods covered by this draft guidance are those processed foods, such as food packaged in jars, pouches, tubs and boxes, that are represented or purported to be specifically for babies and young children less than two years of age. Lead may be present in these foods because agricultural commodities they are made from—fruits, vegetables, grains and animals—take up contaminants in the environment in much the same way they take up nutrients. In this way, these foods can provide nutrients essential for child growth and development, but they may also be a source of exposure to contaminants.