Do you test for heavy metals?Updated 19 days ago

Cerebelly was founded by a PhD Developmental Neurobiologist, Neurosurgeon, and mom-of-three who has dedicated her life's work to brain development. Her research has shown that it's not just what goes IN baby food that's important, but also what is NOT in there. Our baby food is crafted only from organic, whole food ingredients with 16 essential nutrients critical in supporting total brain growth. Her research has also shown that harmful levels of heavy metals can be detrimental to a child's brain development, which is why Cerebelly goes above and beyond by taking many precautions to ensure our food has the lowest, safest levels possible. 

Here’s how we work to make sure Cerebelly meets the highest standards in testing:  

• We pull random samples from each finished batch of product (which can be literally thousands of finished baby food pouches per flavor) and send it out to be tested by a third-party certified lab to verify all our standards have been met.  
• We won’t release any product until all testing has been completed and passes our criteria.  
• But prior to production, we vet all our purveyors, farms and vendors carefully before choosing them.
• A few of our ingredients are nutritional powerhouses -- for example, carrots and sweet potatoes -- and since they grow in the ground, they are susceptible to absorbing heavy metals in the soil. For those ingredients, we ask our farmers to test their ingredients and agree to specifications for low heavy metal content. We don’t stop there, we actually send samples from each batch of produce off to a third-party certified lab to test for lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic before we use that ingredient to make any Cerebelly flavor.
• On top of all of this, we have proudly earned a Certification and Purity Award from Clean Label Project, a third-party non-profit that tests for contaminants including heavy metals, chemicals, plastics, pesticides, and more. Clean Label Project’s data has been peer-reviewed and their certification criteria align with California's Proposition 65 standards and the European Union's stringent regulations, underscoring their dedication to safeguarding vulnerable populations, particularly infants and young children. Cerebelly also sits on the Clean Label Project Baby Coalition Group to help educate and advocate for better standards in heavy metal testing. 

Understanding that heavy metals are naturally occurring elements pervasive in the Earth's crust, originating from geological processes that have spanned billions of years is imperative. Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury are part of the periodic table, alongside familiar elements like oxygen and hydrogen—the building blocks of water. While these heavy metals pose legitimate concerns, they are inherent components of our environment and cannot be fully eliminated from consumer products without compromising essential nutrients vital for growth and development, especially in infant and children’s nutrition. 

Since heavy metals are naturally occurring, complete avoidance is impossible. However, we can greatly reduce our exposure. The reality is that because of human causes like mining, fracking, industrial agriculture and the use of wastewater for irrigation, heavy metals can get into the air, the water, and the soil. The result is pollution ‘hotspots’ around the planet. In the absence of maximum heavy metal tolerance limits coupled with a global food supply, pollution knows no borders. In the absence of federal regulations that REQUIRE brands to evaluate ingredients for heavy metals, they can be unintentionally introduced into food products. In the absence of federal regulations, it requires brands to voluntarily and proactively think about food safety differently. Cerebelly is committed to minimizing exposure to heavy metals (in addition to pesticides, plasticizers, and other chemicals of concern).