A study done by Consumer Reports found high levels of heavy metals in popular baby foods. 

Cadmium, lead and arsenic were high in products made with rice, sweet potatoes and snacks from brands like Beechnut, Gerber, Earth's Best, and Happy Family. Some studies have shown that children who eat foods with heavy metals in them develop health issues over a long period of time. Issues like ADHD, low IQ scores, higher risks for cancer and autism can be linked to heavy metal foods.

Lisa George believes heavy metals found in her son's lab reports are linked to his autism. 

“It's not the parents, it's not the DNA,” she said. “It's not the DNA, it's the FDA.”

George held a one-person protest outside of the U.S. Congressman Mike Kelly’s office in Sharon on Wednesday. While wearing a shirt that read “Autism is no puzzle… it’s a disease" she encouraged people to take a picture of her sign that had her son's lab reports on it - showing high levels of lead - and send those pictures to lawmakers. 

She wants lawmakers to impose stricter regulations on baby food makers to reduce the amount of heavy metals in foods. But while preventing other kids from eating heavy metals she also wants to correct those who she believes the “government purposely poisoned.”

“There's a detox cure,” George said. 

Even though there is no medication for Autism she believes “our kids deserve a chance for full recovery.”

However, Consumer Reports are not suggesting cutting out those foods that have heavy metals in them entirely - just limit them. 

“If you're serving your children rice based breakfast cereals, we suggest that instead of only serving rice to alternate between other grain based cereals such as wheat or barley or oats,” James Rodgers, Consumer Reports Director of Food Safety and Research said. “If you're feeding your children a lot of these snacks, the puffs and those types of things, we have recommended you consider feeding them fresh fruits and vegetables.”

A full list of products Consumer Reports are recommending parent limits for their babies can be found here. 

Back in 2018, Consumer Reports tested 50 baby food products for heavy metals. They found 33 of them contained a concerning amount of cadmium, lead or arsenic. They took seven products from that study and looked at them again in 2023. In the most recent report heavy metals were lower in three of those products. However, for the other three heavy metals increased. 

The FDA does test children’s food for contaminates but Consumer Reports Experts don't think it's enough.