US baby formulas often contain contaminants, study finds

A new investigation that tested 41 types of powdered baby formula sold in the US found that about half of the products contained concerning levels of contaminants, including lead, arsenic, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), bisphenol A (BPA) and acrylamide.

“Millions of parents rely on infant formula during the first important months of their babies’ lives and deserve access to safe, healthy and nutritious products,” said James Rogers, director of product safety testing at Consumer Reports, the nonprofit organization that performed the investigation, in a statement.

Apparently in response to the report, the FDA announced Tuesday that the agency would be “taking steps to enhance its efforts to ensure the ongoing quality, safety, nutritional adequacy, and resilience of the domestic infant formula supply.”

“The FDA will use all resources and authorities at its disposal to make sure infant formula products are safe and wholesome for the families and children who rely on them,” said Health and Human Services secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., in the statement.

That announcement follows the Trump administration’s recent decision to disband two food safety advisory committees that provided scientific advice and recommendations to the FDA and other federal agencies.  One of the committees, the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF), had been preparing to release a report prompted by a bacterial outbreak in powdered infant formula from September 2021 to February 2022, with recommendations on how to avoid future outbreaks.

Arsenic, a carcinogen, was one of the contaminants most commonly found in the products tested by Consumer Reports. The investigation found the highest inorganic arsenic level in Abbott Nutrition’s EleCare Hypoallergenic, at 19.7 parts per billion (ppb), and the second highest in Similac Alimentum at 15.1 ppb, also made by Abbott, one of the top companies in the infant formula market.

Abbott told the organization in a statement that the company had concerns about the study’s methodology, that heavy metals are widespread in the environment, and that these substances “may be present in trace amounts in food products, including all brands of infant formula and even human breast milk.”

Lead was also commonly found in the baby formula products tested. While there is no safe level of lead and even low levels can be harmful to children, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the metal is hard to totally avoid since it is often present in the soil.

The Consumer Reports tests found lead in formula at levels ranging from 1.2 ppb to 4.2 ppb, which is below guidelines set by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But in 18 of the products, there was enough lead to approach the more conservative Maximum Allowable Dose Level (MADL) set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

At least one type of PFAS was also found in almost every product. Though concerning, the impact of this finding is less clear since these “forever chemicals” are so widespread and since most of the PFAS chemicals identified in the formula are poorly studied. However, in several products the researchers did find perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), which has been classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” by an international cancer research group.

“I don’t think parents can choose their way away from PFAS in their infant’s diet—it’s more of a closer to zero mentality that we need to start taking, when it comes to PFAS in food,” Courtney Carignan, an environmental epidemiologist at Michigan State University, told Consumer Reports.

However, using a filter that effectively removes PFAS in the water used to make formula is a good step to take, Carignan said.

Experts also note that fluoridated tap water shouldn’t be used to make baby formula, because it’s unlikely to provide a benefit to infants and doing so has been linked with impaired neurodevelopment.

(Featured image by Lucy Wolski via Unsplash+)