Consumer Reports Baby Food Tests: What They Found and What a Seal Adds

When Consumer Reports publishes test results for baby food, parents pay attention, and they should. These investigations have shaped how families, companies, and regulators think about heavy metals in food for young children.

Here is what CR found, what it means for your shopping, and how a news test is different from a certification seal on a package.

What Consumer Reports found

In its best-known baby-food investigation, published in 2018, CR bought three samples each of 50 nationally distributed baby and toddler foods and tested them for cadmium, lead, mercury, and inorganic arsenic. The findings:

• Every product had measurable levels of at least one heavy metal.
• About two-thirds (34 products) had levels CR's experts considered worrisome.
• 15 would pose a potential health risk to a child eating one serving or less a day, by CR's assessment.
• Rice-based foods, sweet potato products, and snacks were most likely to be high.
• Organic products were just as likely to contain heavy metals as conventional ones.

CR itself described the results as a spot check of the market that should not be used to draw definitive conclusions about specific brands. Read CR's report.

What that means for parents

The practical takeaways line up with what pediatricians recommend:

• Rotate foods. No single food should dominate your baby's diet.
• Go easy on rice. Choose oatmeal or multigrain cereal some of the time, and treat rice puffs and rice rusks as occasional snacks.
• Rotate root vegetables. Carrots and sweet potatoes are nutritious, but serve them alongside other vegetables.
• Do not rely on "organic" for this. Organic rules cover farming practices, not heavy metals.

A test is a snapshot

A magazine investigation is valuable, but it is a moment in time. It covers specific samples bought on specific dates, tested with one method. Products get reformulated and ingredient sources change, so a product's result from years ago may not describe what is on the shelf today.

Two other sources give you more current information:

• Lot results from the brand. California's AB 899 requires baby-food makers selling in the state to test monthly and post results online, often through a QR code on the package. How to read those QR codes.
• Certification marks. A certification seal is ongoing rather than a one-time test.

What a seal adds

The Heavy Metal Certified mark means a specific product was tested through a qualified independent ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory and met a published standard covering eight metals: lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, chromium, nickel, tin, and aluminum. The license lasts one year, and the product must be retested to keep it.

It is a different tool from a news test. A news test tells you what one set of samples looked like at one point in time. A seal tells you a product meets a published rule and is checked every year. Neither one is a safety guarantee, and a product without a seal has not failed anything. What the mark means.

FAQ

Did Consumer Reports find heavy metals in every baby food? In its 2018 tests of 50 products, every one had measurable levels of at least one of cadmium, lead, or inorganic arsenic.

Is organic baby food lower in heavy metals? Not according to CR's testing. Organic products were as likely to contain heavy metals as conventional ones.

Should I stop buying brands that did poorly in a news test? That is your call, but results can change as products are reformulated. Checking the brand's current lot results is often more useful than an older test.

Does a certification seal mean a product is safe? No. It means the product met a published standard when tested. It is not a safety guarantee.

Is Heavy Metal Tested connected to Consumer Reports? No. They are separate organizations.

Learn more

• What the HBBF baby-food reports found
• Heavy metals in puffs and teething rusks
• What Heavy Metal Tested certification is

Work at a baby-food brand? Book a 30-minute call about certification.