80% of infant formulas contain arsenic, study finds

One third of baby food products tested also contained lead

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A large amount of baby food products contain dangerous chemicals, a new study has found.

Products were revealed to include arsenic, lead, cadmium and acrylamide in a test carried out by The Clean Label Project, a non-profit organisation that advocates consumer transparency.

They used Nielsen data to analyse 530 different snacks, cereals, formulas and drinks that had been purchased in the last five months.

Out of the products analysed, researchers found that 65 per cent contained arsenic, 58 per cent contained cadmium, 36 per cent contained lead and 10 per cent contained acrylamide.

80 per cent of infant formula samples were also found to contain arsenic, a toxin which the World Health Organisation associates with a slew of health issues such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

While the amounts of each chemical varied with each product, some contained up to 600 parts of arsenic per billion.

Many of these were rice-based products such as crisps and “puffs”.

The study also found that baby foods today had 70 per cent more acrylamide than the average French fry, a chemical which has been linked to brain damage and reproductive challenges.

The report named and shamed some major baby food retailers, including Enfamil, Plum Organics and Sprout, who they deemed as some of the worst offenders for containing harmful chemicals.

They also found that 60 per cent of products with “BPA free” labels in fact tested positive for bisphenol A, an industrial chemical which is used to make plastic.

Clean Label Project concluded their findings by identifying the top and bottom five cereals, formulas, snacks, drinks and jar meals in terms of dangerous chemical contents.

Their full list can be seen here.