A closer look at infant food safety: A comprehensive review comparing contaminants across different food sources

Abstract

Parents' concerns about baby food safety are growing, particularly because infants are more vulnerable to food contaminants than adults. Recent evidence revealing high levels of substances like arsenic and lead in baby foods call for a thorough exploration of contaminants in various infant diets. The objective of this article is to compare the levels of contaminants in Commercial Baby Foods (CBFs) in comparison to Homemade Baby Foods (HMBFs), and Common Foods (CFs), to assess their relative safety for infants. A comprehensive review of studies published between January 2007 and February 2024 was conducted, focusing on original contaminant data in CBFs, HMBFs, and CFs for infants aged 6 months to 3 years. Out of 880 initial publications, 46 studies were selected. The findings reveal that CBFs generally contained lower levels of pesticides, fertilizer residues and toxins in comparison to HMBFs and CFs, while heavy metal and environmental contaminant levels were comparable across all three food types. Process contaminants and packaging substances were higher in CFs compared to CBFs. This complexity calls for a shift in the infant food safety discussion, promoting an evidence-based assessment of all food sources, including common foods. Additionally, our findings challenge the general belief that HMBFs are inherently safer than CBFs in terms of contaminant levels, suggesting that this view may be overly simplistic. These results highlight the need for unified safety standards across all food types, as stricter regulations for commercial baby foods do not extend to common foods used in homemade meals.