Baby food safety is being questioned after results from a study show that baby foods from the U.S. and China have an unhealthy level of flame retardants. Flame retardants are a type of chemical that can be found in electronics, plastics and textiles. It is used to keep materials from catching fire easily. Ingredients in the compound include polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and has caused much frenzy in the media in recent years.
Flame retardants are said to be one of the many ways that can cause developmental delays and cancer. It can be passed to human who sit on these materials or use products containing fire retardants. This, of course, affects our food and in turn, the chemicals become a part of what we eat. Though we do not officially or scientifically have a ‘dangerous level’ the mere idea seems like something that should be avoided.
The study compared canned infant formula, cereals and pureed baby food from both countries. In most cases, the levels were similar but of course there were some differences. Some included a higher concentration of Dechlorane Plus in one Chinese formula sample and one American cereal sample. Furthermore, breast milk in American and Canadian women tends to be slightly higher in flame retardants than breast milk from elsewhere in the world, as a result of more products containing flame retardants in the U.S. and Canada.
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