Non Toxic Babies...and Mommies

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I found this VERY alarming!  If this isn't a great reason to start making your own baby food...I don't know what is???  Some common things that you may have in your fridge or pantry may contain high levels of lead!  The Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) is a non-profit organization based out of California.  They recently released this information regarding lead levels in apple juice, grape juice, packaged pears, peaches, BABY FOOD, and fruit cocktail.

Which foods contain too much lead?

• Beech Nut 100% Apple Juice
• Del Monte 100% Juice Fruit Cocktail
• Del Monte Freestone Peach Slices in 100 % Juice
• Del Monte Sliced Yellow Cling Peaches in 100 % Juice
• Dole Mixed Fruit in Light Syrup
• Earth’s Best Organics Apple Juice
• Gerber 100% Juice – White Grape Juice
• Gerber 100% Juice Apple Juice
• Gerber 3rd Foods Peaches
• Gerber 3rd Foods Pears
• Hansen’s Natural Apple Juice
• Langers Apple Juice 100% Juice
• Minute Maid Juice Apple – 100% Apple Juice
• Motts 100% Apple Juice
• O Organics Organic Unfiltered Apple Juice Not From Concentrate
• Old Orchard 100% Apple Juice
• R.W. Knudsen Just Concord Grape Juice
• S&W Natural Style Fruit Cocktail in Lightly Sweetened Juice
• Safeway 100% Juice Apple Cider
• Safeway Organic Grape Juice
• Santa Cruz Organic Concord Grape Juice
• Trader Joe’s Certified Organic Apple Juice, pasteurized
• Trader Joe’s Pear Halves in white grape juice
• Tree Top 100% Juice Apple Cider
• Tree Top 100% Juice, Grape
• Walgreens Apple Juice from concentrate 100% juice
• Welch’s 100% Grape Juice (from Welch’s Concord Grapes)
• Welch’s 100% Red Grape Juice from Concentrate

The above is just a sample!  There are about one hundred other products which contained lead exceeding the federal standard that are listed in the full report. For the full list of products involved click the link below.

FULL LIST OF PRODUCTS CONTAINING LEAD  (see PDF pages 9-14)

Lead exposure in children can cause:

• Damage to the brain and nervous system
• Behavior and learning problems, such as hyperactivity
• Slowed growth
• Hearing problems
• Headaches

 Lead is also harmful to adults. Adults can suffer from:

• Reproductive problems (in both men and women)
• High blood pressure and hypertension
• Nerve disorders
• Memory and concentration problems
• Muscle and joint pain

Related articles by Zemanta

• Reader Tip: Lead in Juice, Baby Food (eatdrinkbetter.com)
• "Report: lead in popular children's fruit juice brands" and related posts (boingboing.net)
• Testing finds lead in juices, fruit products aimed at kids (timesunion.com)