GET THE LEAD OUT

FDA Proposes Limits on Lead in Baby Food

Some advocates say it’s progress, but others think it doesn’t go far enough.

The Food and Drug administration is proposing limits on how much lead can be in baby food, leaving advocates divided. A spokesperson for the Environmental Working Group told The New York Times that the new maximums are “important progress for babies,” but Jane Houlihan of the non-profit Healthy Babies Bright Futures said, “It doesn’t go far enough to protect babies from neurodevelopmental damage from lead exposures... Lead is in almost every baby food we’ve tested, and the action levels that F.D.A. has set will influence almost none of that food.” The FDA says the new guidelines would allow it to take action against manufacturers who exceed the levels and that it could cut how much lead young children are exposed to by 25 percent.