One production date lot of Beech-Nut rice baby food is being recalled because it contains high levels of inorganic arsenic. Baby food manufacturers have been under fire for some time because sampling has shown that many of these products have high levels of heavy metals such as inorganic arsenic, cadmium, and lead.
No illnesses related to this specific product have been reported to the company to date, although the effects of ingesting this compound can take years to manifest. No other production dates or Beech-Nut products are affected by this recall.
Beech-Nut has also decided to leave the market for Beech-Nut branded Single Grain Rice Cereal. The company is concerned about the ability to obtain rice flour that is consistently well below the FDA guidance level and their own specifications.
Beech-Nut Stage 1 Single Grain Rice Cereal is the recalled product. The recall was triggered after routine sampling by the State of Alaska found that samples from the production lot teated above the guidance level that was set by the FDA in August 2020, even though the rice flour used had been tested and was below the guidance level.
The specific Beech-Nut Single Grain Rice cereal item being recalled has an expiration date of 01MAY 2022 and the product codes 103470XXXX and 093470XXXX that are printed on the label. The UPC number for this product is 52200034705.
If you purchased this Beech-Nut rice baby food with those specific product codes and that UPC number, do not feed it to your child. You can throw it away in a secure garbage can after double bagging it, or you can take it back to the store where you purchased it for a full refund.
