Results: Limit on Arsenic in Infant Rice Cereal

The Food and Drug Administration this week proposed a limit on the amount of inorganic arsenic allowed in infant rice cereal, one of the main sources of exposure to the poison in very young children. If applicable, did you ever feed your infant rice cereal?

Exposure to inorganic arsenic, which occurs naturally but is also the result of fertilizer and pesticide use, can cause lower performance on some child developmental tests, according to the FDA. The move comes several years after the agency recommended restrictions on arsenic levels in apple juice, and is a sign that the regulator is continuing to clamp down on trace levels of the poison in food amid pressure from consumer advocates. The agency's draft guidance, which is voluntary, calls for a maximum level of inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal of 100-parts-per-billion, which it says is "parallel" to the one set by the European Commission for rice used in food made for infants and young children. Does it upset you that America does not have standards as high as other countries when it comes down to what we eat?

According to the FDA, just under half of infant rice cereal sampled from food retailers in 2014 met the newly proposed limit. The agency said rice consumption by infants, mostly through rice cereal, is about three times greater than by adults. Nestle SA's Gerber unit, which manufactures infant rice cereal, said in a release on its website that its products already meet the levels proposed by FDA. Do you find it comforting that Gerber, one of the worlds largest baby food and product suppliers, already meets these standards?