Baby & Kids
Fewer chemicalsRice soaks up more arsenic than other grains, and FDA says oat, barley or multigrain cereal can be your baby’s first cereal instead.
Our pick
Gerber Stage 1 Organic Oatmeal infant cereal, 8 oz x 5
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Grains like wheat and barley tend to carry less arsenic than rice, which grows in flooded fields. FDA says iron-fortified oat, barley or multigrain cereals can be a first cereal.
Rice cereal is the most common baby cereal in the US, and rice carries more inorganic arsenic than other foods FDA tests. Babies eat more food for their size than adults, and FDA links inorganic arsenic to effects on brain development.
General information, not medical advice. Ask your pediatrician before changing what your baby or child uses.
Start solids when your baby is ready, usually around 6 months; ask your pediatrician. Mix it with breast milk or formula as usual, and rotate grains through the week so no single grain dominates.
Gerber Stage 1 Organic Oatmeal infant cereal, 8 oz x 5: Stage 1 infant cereal with added iron. The maker says it's for babies 6 months and older. Contains wheat.
Earth's Best Organic Whole Grain Oatmeal infant cereal, 8 oz x 6: Infant cereal with added iron. The maker says it's for babies starting solids at 4 to 6 months. Contains wheat.
Health and safety facts on this page come from these sources. What a pick is made of comes from its maker's listing or website, as stated on the date we checked.
Pantry
In FDA testing, basmati and short- or medium-grain white rice averaged about a fifth less inorganic arsenic per serving than white long-grain rice, and a 5-minute parboil before cooking cut white rice’s levels by up to 73% in a lab study.
Our pick
Nishiki Medium Grain Rice, 5 lb (80 oz)
Baby & Kids
Synthetic dyes were linked to worse behaviour in 13 of 25 children’s trials, and FDA is pushing food makers to phase them out.
Our pick
Black Forest Juicy Burst fruit snacks, 40 x 0.8 oz
