Processed Food and Toxins: You May Be Feeding Your Baby Lead.

I haphazardly ran across an article today about lead being present in imported rice.  While I am not one to believe just any random article posted on the Internet, it did make me want to research heavy metals and foods.  Heavy metals are part of our environment and it is normal for trace amounts of them to be present in our bodies as well as in plants and animals.  But, if we consume too much of any heavy metal our bodies will be poisoned and the repercussions can be serious.  I learned a lot about lead and food.  I will sum up some of the information I found to be the most important here and will post links to the articles I read at the end of this post in case you want to do any further investigating.

The first thing I learned is that there is such a thing as the ELF (Environmental Law Foundation).  The ELF's purpose is to protect communities by openly sharing information on environmental toxins and by taking legal action against companies and/or the government when communities are being threatened by toxins.  The ELF is currently working on a law suit that has to do with lead being found in foods marketed as made specifically for babies and children.  They have put out lists of what baby foods to avoid buying. To visit the list follow the link below. (carrots and sweet potatoes in every major brand of baby food are on the DO NOT BUY list)
http://envirolaw.org/documents/2013BabyFoodGuide.pdf

Another thing I learned is that the fruits, vegetables, and grains we know we should be eating can contain lead, even if grown organically.  The foods absorb the lead from contaminated soil and because the lead is absorbed, it remains in the food no matter how well you wash it.  The experts studying the contaminated rice believe that the rice is becoming contaminated in the growing process as opposed to the manufacturing/packaging process.
"While lead exposure can negatively affect cognitive development and performance in kids, adults with high lead exposure can also experience problems with blood pressure, heart disease and calcium deficiency. Tongesayi’s team believes the rice became contaminated during growing and harvesting. “Processing can potentially add some contaminants, but from what we studied, it seems that the contamination is coming from contaminated soils and contaminated irrigation waters,” he says."(taken from healthland.time.com) 
These findings only apply to imported rice.  Rice grown in the U.S. has not been implicated.

So, how do we protect ourselves from this?  I think the best answer is the answer I always have.  Buy local food from local farmers that you know you can trust.  When purchasing at a farmers market, ask the farmer if he/she tests their soil for heavy metals, including lead.  If their soil is clean, their food is clean.  If we support the people who care about the quality of their product, then those are the people who will succeed and the world will be a better place for it.
For more information on lead content in food and how the FDA regulates lead in food:

 http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/11/high-levels-of-lead-found-in-imported-rice/#ixzz2QBFf7GjG

http://envirolaw.org/

http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/FruitsVegetablesJuices/ucm233520.htm