Cárdenas, Krishnamoorthi, Klobuchar, and Duckworth Introducing Bicameral Baby Food Safety Legislation
Washington, D.C. (March 25, 2021)—Today, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Congressman Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), the Vice Chair of the Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) issued the following statements announcing the introduction of the “Baby Food Safety Act of 2021,” to dramatically reduce toxic heavy metals in baby food, educate parents about the risks, and invest in cutting edge farming technology to reduce any economic barriers to making baby food safe for consumption:
“For too long, industry has been allowed to self-regulate baby food safety, and the results have been appalling and extremely harmful to our kids,” said Chairman Krishnamoorthi. “We will not stand for that any longer. The Baby Food Safety Act will protect our little ones by setting strict limits on toxic heavy metals in baby foods.”
“It’s unacceptable that despite parents’ best efforts to keep their children safe, some leading baby food manufacturers have put products on the market that expose children to dangerous toxins. This legislation will protect children and ensure they get a healthy start by holding manufacturers accountable for removing toxins out of infant and toddler foods. I’ll keep fighting to give parents the peace of mind they deserve,” said Senator Klobuchar.
“Parents deserve to have peace of mind that the baby and toddler food they purchase is safe and nutritious,” said Senator Duckworth. “Reports that many types of commonly sold baby and toddler food products may contain levels of harmful metals that pose potential risk to babies, such as arsenic and lead, are deeply troubling. That’s one of the reasons why I’m proud to help introduce legislation today to address this issue, and I look forward to working with my colleagues and the FDA on making sure what we feed our children will help them grow up safe and healthy.”
“Like parents all across America, I was horrified to learn that trusted baby food products contain high levels of toxic lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium,” said Congressman Cárdenas. “I’m proud to introduce this commonsense bill with my colleagues to protect our babies. Parents should not have to worry about whether the baby food they purchase contains toxic metals that would have a negative long-term impact on their child’s health.”
A group of concerned parents joined the Members for a roundtable discussing this bicameral legislation and made the following statements:
“As a mom to four growing children, I applaud Representative Krishnamoorthi, Representative Cardenas, Senator Klobuchar and Senator Duckworth for introducing legislation that, if passed, would make it easier for moms like me to avoid heavy metals in baby food.,” said Trisha Dello Iacono. “Moms shouldn’t have to have a PhD in science to keep our kids safe from toxins. This should be easy. Yet, feeding our children is fraught so long as baby food is contaminated with heavy metals like lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury—undermining our children’s ability to thrive. We need the Baby Food Safety Act to make it easier for parents to nourish their babies without unknowingly putting them at risk.”
“As a new parent, you work so hard to raise your child in the best way you know how. So to find out that buying baby food off the shelf could be causing irreversible damage to your child's brain is scary -- and also frustrating beyond belief,” said Karen Ong. “These toxins impact brain development. As a parent, of course I want my baby to be the best she can be. But as a society, don't we want to give all children the opportunity to reach their full potential? By not addressing this we are limiting what we as a country and we as humans can achieve.”
The “Baby Food Safety Act of 2021” will be introduced in the House on Friday and in the Senate today.
Click here to read the bill text.
Click here to read the one-pager.
Click here to read the section-by-section.
Click here to read the endorsements for the bill.
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