Beech-Nut is recalling its infant rice cereal after the US Food and Drug Administration found higher-than-acceptable levels of arsenic in the product. The company has also decided to take their Single Grain Rice Cereal baby food off the market.
"Arsenic is a known carcinogen that can influence the risk of cardiovascular, immune and other diseases," says CNN. "But it's the impact on a developing baby's brain that is most worrisome, experts say."
From CNN:
The only recalled product at this time is Beech-Nut Single Grain Rice item (UPC Code number 52200034705), which has an expiration date of 01MAY2022 and product codes 103470XXXX and 093470XXXX. …
"Beech-Nut has also decided to exit the market for Beech-Nut branded Single Grain Rice Cereal," the FDA said in its recall announcement."Beech-Nut is concerned about the ability to consistently obtain rice flour well-below the FDA guidance level and Beech-Nut specifications for naturally occurring inorganic arsenic," the FDA said.In its announcement, the FDA quoted Jason Jacobs, Beech-Nut's vice president of food safety and quality.
"The safety of infants and children is Beech-Nut's top priority. We are issuing this voluntary recall, because we learned through routine sampling by the State of Alaska that a limited quantity of Beech-Nut Single Grain Rice Cereal products had levels of naturally-occurring inorganic arsenic above the FDA guidance level, even though the rice flour used to produce these products tested below the FDA guidance level for inorganic arsenic," Jacobs said.
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