Study Finds Arsenic in Baby Formula, Cereal Bars

A new study has found troubling levels of a kind of arsenic known to cause cancer in infant formulas and cereal bars that contain organic brown rice syrup. Arsenic is often found in rice, because rice absorbs the toxin from the soil, the LA Times explains. The study tested 17 infant formulas, and found arsenic in two of them—in one case it was six times the federal limit for water, a potentially toxic level for an infant.

Among the 29 cereal bars the study tested, those containing the syrup or any form of rice had levels anywhere from two to 12 times higher than the water limit. There is no federal limit for arsenic in food, however, and the authors say their work demonstrates an "urgent" need for one. The study doesn't identify which brands of formula or cereal bars are tainted, but does urge parents to avoid formula using brown rice syrup as the main ingredient. (Click for more disturbing things found to contain arsenic.)