What can families and communities do to prevent exposure to lead in children’s food?

Lead and other heavy metals can occur naturally in soil used to grow food or can get into food through pesticides, food manufacturing, and packaging. This can lead to small amounts of heavy metals in some baby food products such as rice, rice-based foods (e.g., rice puffs, rice cereal), vegetables (e.g., sweet potatoes), and fruit juices. Parents can reduce heavy metals in their child’s diet with simple steps such as feeding them a variety of foods and limiting rice-based products and fruit juices. Feed your child healthy meals with foods like milk, cheese, green leafy vegetables, peanut butter, beans, cereals, oranges, and peppers. Foods with vitamin C, iron, and calcium may help keep lead out of the body.