NY Attorney General Probes Arsenic in Baby Cereal Monday, May 3, 2021
We have reported on FDA’s guidance document, “Inorganic Arsenic in Rice Cereals for Infants: Action Level Guidance for Industry,” which was finalized in August 2020 and sets an action level of 100 parts per billion (ppb) as the threshold for considering whether infant rice cereal may be “adulterated” and enforcement action is warranted. A February 4, 2021 Congressional report on the finding of heavy metals in baby foods in the U.S. raised questions regarding compliance with FDA’s action level and, among other things, recommended the possibility of “phasing out” ingredients such as rice, that are high in toxic heavy metals. As discussed here, the “Baby Food Safety Act of 2021,” was later introduced, on March 25, 2021, and would impose a lower action level of 15 ppb for inorganic arsenic in infant and toddler cereal.
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Baby food production companies argued against transferring multiple complaints against one or all of the defendants to the Eastern District of New York in a response to some plaintiff’s motion to transfer various allegations against the companies alleging that they mislabeled their products by not alerting consumers to the presence of heavy metals, which are found in the environment and in common fruits and vegetables.
The response, which was filed on Tuesday, responds to the first motion filed in the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation matter to address consolidating the many complaints filed this year against baby food companies following a House Subcommittee Report which claimed that the levels of heavy metals in baby foods are unsafe for children. There are currently about 57 related cases being heard in 14 different courts.
Amid the current surge of migrants crossing the southern border, nearly 20,000 unaccompanied minors entered the U.S. in March alone, a monthly record.
“How many of these thousands of minors coming across our southern border do not have family members in the U.S. able to take care of them in a loving home?” Marguerite Telford, chief of communications for the Center for Immigration Studies, told The Washington Times. “We have been told over the last few years that there is a foster care shortage. The crisis at the border will expand the shortage and children will be the ones who pay the price. This border crisis will be impacting America in so many ways for years to come.”
Number of U S foster parents declining as need rises with unaccompanied immigrant kids washingtontimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtontimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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FDA to set action levels for contaminants in ‘key foods,’ in wake of baby food heavy metals report By Elaine Watson Under pressure to act in the wake of the recent congressional report into heavy metals in baby food, the FDA says it will issue guidance to identify action levels for contaminants in key foods, as lawsuits against baby food brands pile up, although it has not provided a likely timetable.
Since the Congressional Subcommittee
report was published on February 4, Gerber, Beech Nut Nutrition, Campbell Soup (Plum Organics), Nurture Inc (Happy Family Organics) and Hain Celestial (Earth’s Best) have all been