Lead Safe Mama’s Safer Choices (Lead-Free Choices!): Baby Food Storage

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Published: March 11, 2023 — Saturday

In response to the findings of high-Lead paint on some of the WeeSprout baby food storage jars with painted markings (link to article with full details), here are some guidelines for making safer choices for baby food storage — plus some specific safer choices/brands that we here at Lead Safe Mama, LLC have tested and found to be 100% Lead-free using XRF technology (the same technology the Consumer Product Safety Commission [CPSC] uses when screening products for use by children to determine if they have unsafe levels of Lead in the substrate, or paint/coatings).

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General Guidelines for Purchasing LEAD-FREE Reusable Baby Food Storage Containers

1. Avoid any glass that has painted measurement, logo and/or decorative markings — unless you can confirm that the paint has been tested by a third-party and confirmed to be Lead-free.
2. Avoid insulated stainless steel baby food storage products.
3. When looking for strictly LEAD-FREE options, avoid WeeSprout, Jervis & George, Babymoov, Green Sprouts, Hevea, Weck, Nuk, Lansinoh, Pura Kiki, Cupkin, and Paulie Jar for both ethical and practical reasons. Each of these brands have had products that tested positive for at least traces of Lead — in some cases very high levels of Lead — including many examples of products which have not yet been recalled.
4. Also from an ethical/political perspective, you may want to avoid products that have food-contact silicone components. I like the silicone seals on some of the glass options out there as they don’t touch the food in most of these products — but silicone can test positive for trace levels of Cadmium (a known carcinogen), and can also test positive (rarely, but sometimes) for Lead in varying levels. I think, in general, we need to re-examine our relationship with silicone and start phasing it out of use in our kitchens (in most applications, but especially with food-contact, daily-use products).

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Specific recommendations for safer baby food storage choices, based on products we have tested that have been consistently Lead-free:

1. https://amzn.to/3Fic8Hc
2. https://amzn.to/422ezay
3. https://amzn.to/3l0aIu9
4. I will look for more safe options and will update this post ASAP

Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of our affiliate links we may receive a percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you. You may also be able to find these items at better prices at your local brick and mortar store (Walmart? Target? Locally owned baby store?)

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For those new to this website:

Tamara Rubin is a multiple-Federal-award-winning independent advocate and activist, and a documentary filmmaker. She is the owner and founder of Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a woman-owned small business for consumer goods safety and childhood Lead-poisoning prevention. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children, the inspiration for her work [Tamara’s sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in August of 2005]. She was trained and certified to use XRF technology in 2009  – specifically with the focus of testing consumer goods for toxicants.

• Tamara was the parent-advocate responsible for finding Lead in the popular fidget spinner toys in 2017. 
• In 2022 her work was also responsible for three CPSC product recalls — the Jumping Jumperoo recall (June, 2022), the Lead painted NUK baby bottle recall (July, 2022), and the Leaded Green Sprouts Insulated Stainless Steel Baby Bottles (November, 2022).
• In 2023, her work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine and has already (as of publishing this article) precipitated a product recall for one of “Oprah’s Favorite Things” the Bindle Bottle insulated stainless steel water bottle.
• To see a summary of violation reports filed by Lead Safe Mama, LLC  as well as recent press coverage of our work, please click this link.

The XRF instrument Tamara uses is the same instrument (and same scientific method) used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals), including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic. All test results reported on this website (LeadSafeMama.com/TamaraRubin.com) are science-based, accurate, and replicable. Items are tested multiple times, to confirm the test results for each component tested and reported on. Please click through to this link to learn more about the testing methodology used for the test results discussed and reported on this website.