Commitment to Purity in Infant & Toddler Nutrition

Note: The Nature’s One Team was very concerned to learn of recent reports concerning levels of heavy metals and other toxins in popular, and even organic, baby foods. We wanted to take this opportunity to remind you of our commitment to the purity of the nutritional products we create for your family. If you have specific questions or concerns not addressed in this blog post, please feel free to reach out to us directly.

A Higher Standard in Infant & Toddler Formula:

Your little one means the world to you, and that means the world to us. That’s why we hold every product we create to the highest purity and quality standards on the market. We want you to know that we share your concern about the harmful ingredients, like heavy metals, found in some trusted baby food brands. Today, we want to take some time to look at the industry standard for those substances, how we hold ourselves to a higher standard, and to reiterate our promise to every Nature’s One family.

Industry allowances.

You might be surprised to learn (we were!) that the Food and Drug Administration does not set limits on the levels of heavy metals like lead, mercury, and cadmium that are acceptable in baby foods, except for levels of arsenic allowable in rice cereal (100 parts per billion). That’s right - they regulate the levels of these potentially harmful substances in bottled water, in juice, and in candy, but NOT in the foods marketed to parents for their babies! The European Union has gone a bit further, setting limits on lead (20 parts per billion) and cadmium (10-15 parts per billion). But the problem is: there is no established “safe” level of these heavy metals.

Recent reports have indicated that popular, and even organic, U.S. baby foods contain levels of these heavy metals that far exceed the EU limits, and even the established limits set for other food products. For example: The American Academy for Pediatrics recommends lead levels less than 1 part per billion in food and drinks consumed by babies, but recent reports indicate that several popular brands of baby food used ingredients that contain more than 15 parts per billion of lead.

Researchers have already established that these toxins could have significant negative effects on children - especially infants. So why would we continue to feed these potentially toxic substances to the youngest, most vulnerable members of our families? The answer is, “we won’t!”

A higher standard.

Even though many of these problematic ingredients are naturally occurring in the environment (due to reckless use of chemicals or pollution), we work to eliminate all toxins as thoroughly as possible from our products. Our formulas have routinely tested “Best in Class” for purity and nutrition (when compared to popular baby formulas sold in the USA), as determined by the Clean Label Project, an independent, third-party, nonprofit organization dedicated to educating consumers on issues of health and wellness.

Our commitment to purity in the products we offer means that we refuse to cut corners or make concessions based on what may be considered “acceptable.” As parents ourselves, we refuse to offer other families products we wouldn’t be comfortable giving to our own children. We call our approach the Pure 10 Pledge.

We’re committed to routine testing of our ingredients and products for metals like arsenic, lead, and mercury. And, we hold ourselves to the strictest water standards found in the USA and the world.

We’re not afraid to innovate to make sure we can create products we’re proud of. For example: When we originally chose organic brown rice syrup for our formulas, we believed it to be far healthier than other sources of the critical carbohydrate like corn syrup or glucose syrup used by other formulas. But when reports showed brown rice syrup could have naturally occurring traces of arsenic in it, we didn’t sit back and hope no one noticed like many other companies do. Instead, we tackled the issue head on! We innovated a special organic filtration process that would allow us to retain the benefits of organic brown rice syrup, while at the same time, reducing heavy metals. We actually did so much research, we became a leading voice in baby food and formula purity - maybe even “experts” on the subject. Dartmouth College and a well-known consumer advocate publication applauded our commitment to purity and our ongoing work to reduce environmental toxins that contaminate our food supply. It was a proud moment!

But we did not stop there. We also innovated a method of sourcing DHA from organic egg yolks. Who knew eggs were an abundant source?! Better yet, our separation method does not require harsh chemical solvents like hexane (a known neurotoxin). Other infant formulas source their DHA and/or ARA from algae and fungus sources using hexane extraction. We now offer the first and only formulas with organic DHA. And, as nature intended, our organic DHA ingredient contains naturally occurring lutein and choline which also help support your child’s brain health and development.

We will not compromise purity or quality, or cut corners with our production processes. All Baby’s Only® formulas are now made in our state-of-the-art facility - the world’s FIRST dedicated, organic infant formula manufacturing facility, to be exact.  In fact, we’re the only independent formula manufacturer not owned by large pharmaceutical companies. This means we conduct our own research, have 100% control over what goes into our products and how our formulas are made. Controlling all these factors allows us to be more transparent, move more nimbly, and insist on the purest ingredients while keeping our prices competitive.

Our promise.

We promise to never compromise nutritional quality; to reject sourcing controversial ingredients; to source from U.S. organic farms whenever possible; and to stand for “earth, animal, and human” conscious business practices, as we have done for nearly 24 years.

Your child’s health and nutrition is the reason we come to work every day. After all, we are parents too! Our customers are our neighbors, aunts, uncles, grandchildren and friends. We are proud to share the work we do with our loved ones and all the Nature’s One families we serve.

You can learn more about the Nature’s One Pure 10 Pledge right here at NaturesOne.com. If you have questions, please leave us a comment or send us a message. Your family’s needs have always been our highest priority, and you shouldn’t have to settle for anything less. We wouldn’t as parents, either.