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Episode Transcription
Welcome to Food Safety in a Minute, this is Susie Craig.
The Food and Drug Administration just instituted a process to reduce exposure to toxic elements from food consumed by babies and young children. Called the Closer to Zero: Action Plan for Baby Foods, it focuses on arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury. Toxic elements may enter the food supply through air, water, and soil and from industrial, manufacturing, and agricultural processes. Closer to Zero will be a cycle of continual improvement beginning with evaluation of existing data from food testing, exposure and risk assessments, work with stakeholders and advisory committees, and Federal agencies. Reference levels of toxic elements will be established with proposed actions necessary to reduce them in baby food and food for young children. Monitoring, research, and enforcement actions will be available to the public.
This is Susie Craig from Washington State University Extension.
Resources
Closer to Zero: Action Plan for Baby Foods. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 4/8/2021.
FDA Response to Questions About Levels of Toxic Elements in Baby Food, Following Congressional
Report. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 2/16/2021.