Serenity Kids Remains Committed to Reducing Heavy Metals in Baby Food

We applaud Bloomberg for their work to document and educate the public about the presence of heavy metals in the food supply chain. As parents ourselves, nothing is more important than the health of our children and the safety of the foods we feed them. 

We are glad to see that some of these levels are lower than in previous studies, showing that companies are taking a step in the right direction. We are still concerned that the FDA is moving too slowly to set standards and that other companies have not reduced their levels even more. We took action when we first learned about the risk in 2018, and now we are proof that a company can significantly reduce heavy metals if they decide to. 

While Serenity Kids products were not tested by Bloomberg in this study, we are proud to say with confidence that our products would be considered best in class. 

At Serenity Kids, we know that the reality is that heavy metals are prevalent in our food system, some naturally occur and some come from decades of pollution and chemical farming. Without clear guidance from the FDA, we hold our products to the European standards (among the highest in the world) and have proactively and voluntarily implemented a strict internal testing protocol. We have set internal limits and require our suppliers to test high-risk ingredients before we purchase them. We carefully vet all of our suppliers to ensure we are using the cleanest possible ingredients.  We test our ingredients and finished products to ensure that we are providing the safest food for growing bodies and developing brains. Also, we use organic vegetables that come from trusted American family farms that conduct testing on their own soil, have robust food safety programs, and undergo a rigorous SQF food safety audit. Our products are also third-party tested by the Clean Label Project. After all, we feed our products to our own babies! 

All that being said, parents should not panic, while we all should remain conscious of what we are feeding our babies, there are ways for you to further educate yourselves on what goes into the foods you feed your baby. HeathyBabyFood.org has a great resource about reducing exposure to heavy metals in your baby's diet. We must also remember foods given in the first 1,000 days of life are critical and need to be healthy, nutritious, full of good proteins, fats, and vegetables. Serenity Kids products are always free from grains, rice, and juice which are known to have elevated levels of heavy metals. The root vegetables we use in our products are a great source of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and carbohydrates, and because we test finished products, we are confident that they are safe for consumption. When it comes to feeding, we always recommend a wide variety of foods like meat, leafy greens, root vegetables, and more, to help expand the flavor window and to ensure that there isn’t a sole reliance on foods that may contain higher amounts of heavy metals.

Serenity Kids products are among the few pouches, snackable puffs, and formulas that have received the Clean Label Project Purity Award, indicating that our products are best in class and exceptionally low in contaminants. Clean Label Project randomly purchases our products from retail stores and tests them for over 200 chemicals including heavy metals, glyphosate, agrochemicals, plasticizers, and other toxins. We are committed to ingredient quality and safety which is why we’re proud to have our products independently sampled and tested. 

Our co-founder and CEO, Serenity Carr, spoke and advocated for better quality programs at the FDA's Closer to Zero Action Plan: Impacts of Toxic Element Exposure & Nutrition at Different Crucial Developmental Stages for Babies & Young Children public meeting in November 2021. Serenity Kids has also publicly commented in support of the coalition led by New York Attorney General Letitia James demanding swift federal action to protect children from toxic metals. 

Even though the FDA does have steps in place to establish limits for all baby foods, many experts, us included, believe the timeline should be much faster and interim levels are needed immediately. The FDA has already missed the deadline for Phase 1 of their Closer to Zero Action Plan and has yet to propose interim levels for the many categories of foods consumed by babies and little ones. Further, while the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 was drafted, it has yet to see any movement and it does not address other contaminant threats in our food supply like pesticide residues and plasticizers like phthalates and BPA.

Serenity Kids is proud to be leading the industry in safe foods for babies and toddlers, especially because our own little ones eat them too. We are dedicated and will remain committed to making children healthier by offering nutrient-dense foods that are safe for consumption and help children grow happy, healthy, and strong. 

Visit https://myserenitykids.com/pages/heavy-metals-in-baby-food to learn more about our commitment to the health and safety of babies.