Heavy Metals FAQ

Heavy metals are elements that occur naturally in the earth’s crust. Remember that periodic table from grade school? Some elements like oxygen are essential for life, while others like lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic can have negative health impacts. Heavy metals are also byproducts of industrial and agricultural pollution. Decades of pollution have caused our soil and water to become increasingly contaminated with heavy metals, which are then absorbed by the crops grown in the ground.

Most food has some level of heavy metals due to their natural prevalence in the environment. Heavy metals cannot be manually added (or removed) from food. Just as crops (whether homegrown or store-bought) absorb vital nutrients like iron and calcium from the soil, they also absorb heavy metals like lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury. However, there are important steps that food manufacturers can take to minimize heavy metals, like careful sourcing and rigorously testing finished products, both of which we’ve prioritized from day one.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), low levels of heavy metals found in foods are likely a relatively small part of a child’s overall toxic metal exposure risk. However, exposure from all sources should be minimized because toxic metal exposure can be harmful to the developing brain and has been linked to problems with learning, cognition and behavior. Babies are particularly vulnerable to heavy metal exposure due to their smaller size and developing organs. We don’t have concrete data on how much heavy metal exposure is too much, so it’s best to minimize exposure wherever possible.

Because heavy metals are ubiquitous in our environment, there’s no way to completely avoid them. A 2022 report found that 94% of both homemade and store-bought baby foods were equally contaminated with one or more heavy metals. While buying organic does reduce chemical contaminants like pesticides, it does not reduce heavy metals. However, there are important steps you can take to minimize your child’s exposure.

• Diversify your child’s diet with a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and lean protein to limit exposure to any one food.
• Look for Clean Label Certified products that are independently tested for 200+ contaminants, including heavy metals, and have been ranked in the top of their category.
• Avoid fruit juice. Offer sliced or pureed whole fruits rather than juice. Some fruit juices can contain high levels of heavy metals.
• Make healthy fish choices. Large, predatory fish that eat other fish (such as tuna and swordfish) can be high in a form of mercury called methylmercury. Look for safer options like salmon, cod, whitefish and pollock.
• Don’t smoke or vape. Second hand smoke may expose children to heavy metals. Vaping allows toxic metals from the vape coils to get into the air and be inhaled.
• Check your water. Heavy metals can leach into water. Older pipes may contain lead and arsenic can contaminate well water. You can contact your local health department to have your water tested.
• Address lead hazards in your home. There are other important ways to help reduce your baby's exposure to toxic metals. The most common source of lead exposure, for example, is from peeling or chipping paint from older homes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet set standards for heavy metals in most baby food forms. The FDA’s Closer to Zero initiative - which aims to reduce dietary exposure to arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead - has resulted in action levels for inorganic arsenic of 100 parts per billion (ppb) in rice cereal and 10 ppb in apple juice. An action limit for lead in baby food is expected soon. In the absence of clear federal standards for most foods, brands must proactively test their own products and set strict internal standards. From the very beginning, we’ve tested our finished products for heavy metals to ensure they fall below the California Prop 65 limits, which are currently the strictest in the nation.

California’s AB 899 law mandates that baby food manufacturers test for the heavy metals arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury and publish the results for all products manufactured after January 1, 2025. Maryland passed a similar bill called Rudy’s Law that takes effect in 2026. Although these bills are specific to California and Maryland, they are expected to dramatically improve the safety and transparency of baby food nationwide.

Proposition 65 (Prop 65) is a California law formally known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. It is a right-to-know law requiring the public to be informed when a substance on the Prop 65 chemical list is present above a very low threshold. That threshold is calculated as a percentage of “Maximum Allowable Dose Level” (MADL) which refers to the maximum daily intake of a substance that’s considered safe. The MADL is calculated based on serving size. Experts use Prop 65 calculations for heavy metals because there are no federal limits set for most baby foods, and California’s standards are considered the most protective in the nation.

Parts per billion (ppb) is a unit of measurement that represents the quantity of a substance in relation to a billion parts of the total substance. It’s often used to measure the concentration of chemicals in water or food.

Because heavy metals are prevalent in our soil, water, and air (due to both pollution and natural causes), it’s virtually impossible to have whole foods that are totally free from metals, unless they are highly processed and refined. Nutritional powerhouses like fruits and vegetables that grow in the ground, are often at the highest risk of heavy metal absorption from soil - think sweet potatoes, root vegetables, rice, spinach, kale, carrots and lettuce. It’s important to take steps to minimize heavy metal exposure, without sacrificing nutritional density in the process. This is where careful sourcing of ingredients and testing final products is critical, both of which we’ve prioritized since day one.

Heavy metals cannot be manually added or removed from food. They are naturally present in the soil, water, and air. Just as fruits, vegetables and grain crops readily absorb vital nutrients like iron and calcium from the environment, these foods also absorb contaminants like heavy metals from the ground and water where they grow.

• From the very beginning, we’ve implemented a rigorous food safety product assessment and audit system for heavy metal and microbial testing. Our final product is tested in accordance with federal and state guidelines, as well as our own strict standards. However, because federal regulations are limited, we also conduct heavy metal testing on all of our final products to ensure they fall below established Safe Harbor limits under California’s Proposition 65, which are the most protective in the nation.
• In addition to our own testing, the Clean Label Project also conducts independent, third-party testing on our products for 200+ contaminants including heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides and plasticizers, then benchmarks the results. In the absence of federal limits, Clean Label Project’s certification process is inspired by other leading progressive regulations - California's Proposition 65 and the European Union. Only the top performing brands in the category receive the Clean Label Project Purity Award and we’re proud that every single one of our products has received it.

We only use labs that are accredited under the standards of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) / International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 17025:2017 and that have demonstrated proficiency in quantifying down to at least six micrograms per kilogram of food (μg/kg) and achieve a z-score less than, or equal to, plus or minus two (≤ ±2), in order to ensure testing accuracy.

We only work with trusted farms and ingredient suppliers who go through a rigorous vetting process and are independently audited and tested to ensure their ingredients meet our high standards.

Where ingredients come from matters, which is why we source our rice flour from USDA Certified Organic farms, which we chose specifically for their soil, farming methods, and testing protocols. We also source from geographical areas known to have lower concentrations of heavy metals. Our puffs are also more than 50% nuts, which means they have much less rice than traditional baby puffs.

Yes. We test our finished products for pesticides, glyphosate, plasticizers like BPA and BPS and hundreds of other chemical contaminants through the Clean Label Project. We’re proud to say every one of our products has won the Clean Label Project Purity Award.

All our ingredient suppliers are required to maintain quality control programs that protect against foreign materials in our ingredient supply and all of our finished product is scanned through calibrated metal detection or x-ray before we ever allow it to be approved for sale.

At Mission MightyMe, we believe strong standards around heavy metals and food safety are good for the baby food industry, families, and most importantly, babies and kids. We wholeheartedly support any regulation that puts power back in the hands of parents and California AB 899 is an important step in that direction. We also fully support the FDA’s Closer to Zero initiative and encourage the federal government to move faster to set clear federal regulations. However, we will not wait for an act of congress to do the right thing. We are committed to being part of the solution and in the absence of federal regulations, we will continue to follow our own strict standards to ensure that our finished products fall below the California Proposition 65 Safe Harbor Levels for heavy metals. In addition to our own testing, we will also continue to participate in independent, third-party testing conducted by the Clean Label Project which, in the absence of federal limits, is inspired by other leading progressive regulations - California's Proposition 65 and the European Union. And as we grow, introduce new products and source new ingredients, we are committed to continual innovation and improvement, in a steadfast effort to get closer to zero.

The Clean Label Project is a national nonprofit dedicated to safety and transparency in consumer products. They conduct rigorous, independent testing on food brands through a process called consumer chain of custody unannounced sampling and testing. Samples are procured in grocery stores, online retailers, and brand websites all in an effort to mirror the consumer shopping experience. Clean Label Project along with their independent accredited laboratories, conduct comprehensive testing for industrial and environmental contaminants, surpassing the scope of federal regulations primarily focused on microbiological contaminants (like E.coli, salmonella, and listeria). The test samples are blinded in order to protect impartiality. Clean Label Project requires proof of food safety, ingredient risk assessments, and supplier assurance programs. In the absence of maximum federal tolerance limits, Clean Label Project’s certification process is inspired by other leading progressive regulations- California's Proposition 65 and the European Union. To achieve Clean Label Project Purity Award, product test results must be in the top 1/3 of the category as defined in the Clean Label Project Purity Award standard.