The issue of warning labels on baby foods containing lead in the US might see a solution in the coming weeks as the lawsuit filed by Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), an environmental group, against some US-based leading baby food makers went on trial recently.
The group has accused Del Monte Foods, Beech-Nut Nutrition and few other companies of selling products containing lead at levels that require warning labels under California Proposition 65.
The case, filed in 2011, is expected to last for several weeks.
Lawyers representing the food companies said the US Food and Drug Administration had tested the products mentioned in the lawsuit and found the levels were below the standards that require warning.
Both sides agree that baby food containing carrots, peaches, pears and sweet potatoes have some lead. The suit also listed grape juice and fruit cocktail.
According to the ELF, lead was one of the very first chemicals listed by the state of California in 1987 as a "chemical known to the state" to cause cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity.
As per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 500,000 US children aged 1 to 5 suffer unsafe levels of lead in their blood.
