Baby Food Safety Act of 2026

Increased safety for infants and toddlers: The Secretary must establish limits on toxic elements such as lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic in infant or toddler food and fruit/vegetable purees or juices (Section 3(a)(1)(A)). This aims to prevent food from being injurious to health (Section 3(a)(5)).

Mandatory oversight and verification: The Secretary is tasked with developing a sampling and testing program to independently verify that products comply with established limits (Section 3(b)(7)).

Improved food traceability: The Secretary must finalize an implementation plan for the FDA to achieve compliance with specific food traceability record requirements (Section 4(a)).

Enhanced inspection standards: A study will be conducted to determine the number of facility inspections needed to ensure imported foods meet the same safety standards as domestic foods (Section 4(b)(1)).

Increased burdens on food manufacturers: Owners or operators of facilities must implement control programs, create written sampling and testing plans, and conduct testing at least every quarter (Section 3(b)(1) and (2)).

Significant recordkeeping requirements: Facilities are required to maintain detailed records of sampling and testing for at least 2 years or the shelf life of the product, whichever is longer, and must provide these to the Secretary upon request (Section 3(b)(5)).

Costs associated with compliance: Manufacturers are responsible for the costs of providing records to the Secretary, including English translations for records maintained in other languages (Section 3(b)(5) and (c)(1)).

Increased risk of food being labeled adulterated: Food can be determined to be adulterated if it contains contaminants exceeding established limits or if the facility is not in compliance with sampling and recordkeeping requirements (Section 3(a)(6) and (c)).