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There may be lead in cassava-based puffs snacks, says Consumer Reports, a consumer advocacy group. A recent Consumer Reports study analyzed heavy metal content in popular kids’ cassava-based puffs and snack products.
The results were significant!
Getting kids to eat a diverse diet of fruits and vegetables can be a struggle in some families. Veggie puff and similar snack foods help parents sneak those veggies into their kid’s bellies.
In an effort to avoid grains and gluten, parents are turning to cassava and sorghum products in their children’s snack foods.
Unfortunately, root vegetables, like cassava, have a higher risk of metal contamination.
Low levels of arsenic, cadmium, and mercury were found in several of the tested products. The biggest issue, however, was discovering “concerning amounts” of lead in cassava-based puffs.
In fact, Intergalactic Voyager Veggie Blend puffs by Lesser Evil’s Lil’ Puffs contained “more lead per serving than any of the 80 baby foods [Consumer Reports] has tested since 2017.”
Among the puff-style snacks tested in this study, the sorghum-based products showed significantly lower levels of lead. In contrast to the cassava-based puffs, these snacks had some of the lowest levels of lead in all the baby foods tested by Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports tested four cassava-based and two sorghum-based kid’s snacks for lead and other metals. For the purposes of the study, lead was measured in percentage of California’s maximum allowable dose level. Since there are no federal limits for lead in most foods, California’s lead standards were determined to be the most protective available as a measurement.
Lesser Evil products were the worst offenders. Based on the serving size and amounts of lead in the products, Consumer Reports generated a recommended serving limit.
A serving size of 7 grams (35 puffs) contained 112% of California’s maximum allowable dose level.
Consumer Reports recommends limiting this product to 0.5 servings a day, or only 17 individual puffs.
A serving size of 7 grams (24 puffs) contained 60% of California’s maximum allowable dose level.
Consumer Reports recommends limiting this product to 1.5 servings per day, or 36 individual puffs.
A serving size of 7 grams (35 puffs) contained 53% of California’s maximum allowable dose level.
Consumer Reports recommends limiting this product to 1.5 servings a day, or only 52 individual puffs.
A serving size of 7 grams (35 puffs) contained 17% of California’s maximum allowable dose level.
Consumer Reports recommends limiting this product to 5.5 servings per day, or 192 individual puffs.
A serving size of 7 grams (48 puffs) contained 6% of California’s maximum allowable dose level.
Consumer Reports did not set a serving limit for this product.
A serving size of 7 grams (48 puffs) contained 3% of California’s maximum allowable dose level.
Consumer Reports did not set a serving limit for this product.
While 24, 35, or 48 puffs may sound like a lot. Based on the size of these products, kids may be consuming more than a serving a day. With the amounts lead in cassava-based puffs products, this could be a problem.
“The serving sizes of these puffs are smaller than a parent may realize,” said James E. Rogers, PhD, head of food safety testing at Consumer Reports.
At about an ounce and a half, this may be difficult to control.
“Try telling that to the toddlers who, if given the chance, can eat an entire container in one sitting,” Rogers says.
It may come as a surprise to many parents who believe that all foods, especially those intended for small children, have lead limits. But this is not the case.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) preposes certain limits of lead and other heavy metals in certain categories of baby food. Snack foods, however, are not included. “The agency needs to take a hard look at the snacks parents feed their children, and make sure they don’t have dangerous levels of lead and other contaminants.”
Manufacturers should also do a better job of monitoring heavy metals in their snack foods.
Why exactly is there a higher incidence of lead in cassava-based products compared to their sorghum-based counterparts? Turns out, it is the nature of the vegetable.
Like sweet potatoes, carrots, and beets, cassava is a root vegetable.
Root vegetables are more vulnerable to lead contamination. Whether from naturally occurring lead in the soil or due to pollution, lead tends to accumulate in a plant’s root system. For vegetables where the root is the part of the vegetable that you consume, the risk is greater.
Processing this vegetable into a flower and further into products like crackers, chips, and snack foods can potentially concentrate lead. Even more so than if the same veggies were consumed in their natural state.
Unfortunately, your child may be exposed to lead in many different ways. From the air they breathe, the water they drink, or the foods they consume – small amounts of lead are everywhere. Minimizing this exposure is the best that a parent can hope for.
Fortunately, “a few servings a week of a food that’s on the higher side for lead won’t pose immediate risks to your child. But it is a good idea to minimize the amount of heavy metals in your family’s diet when you can.”
Packaged snacks like puffs, bars, rice crisps, teething biscuits, and other processed snacks may have greater risk for heavy metal contamination. Besides, most packaged snack foods aren’t on the super healthy side anyway. Opt for more whole food products when possible.
Foods such as oats, whole grains (excluding rice), apples, avocados, bananas, butternut squash, green beans, peaches, strawberries, baby food meats, eggs, beans, cheese, and yogurt are good choices. Cooked, pureed, and mashed, just about all of these foods can be fed to babies already introduced to more solid foods.
While fruit juices may sound healthy, they too can contain heavy metals. Arsenic can be found in many apple and grape juice brands. Additionally, consuming juice without the fiber tends to provide more sugar and less nutrients than consuming the fruit in its natural form.
The American Academy of Pediatrics even recommends waiting until after the baby is one year old before giving fruit juice and limiting juice to four ounces a day for kids one to three years old. Even four- to six-year-olds are only suggested six ounce serving sizes.
If you’d like to know more about food safety topics in the news, like There May Be Lead in Cassava-Based Puffs Says Consumer Reports, check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer)
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