Date Recorded: December 9, 2021

Length: 60 Minutes

Course Content

AOAC Metals Community Webinar: Metals in Baby Food - There has been recent media interest regarding toxic elements found in baby food products sold within the US. This webinar discussed the background of this issue, including how toxic elements enter baby food, the associated health risks, and the techniques used to characterize them. It also discussed how laboratories can analyze these sample types for the low level of elemental contaminants, and what reference materials are available to analysts to help with method validation.

The webinar was facilitated by Dr. Eve Kroukamp (PerkinElmer, Inc.) and Dr. Kevin Kubachka (US FDA), who introduced the topics and provided background information. Dr. Patrick Gray (US FDA) discussed the FDA's Closer to Zero plan and related methodology to measure low levels of elemental contaminants within baby food. Dr. Laura Wood (NIST) and Dr. Zoltan Mester (CNRC) then discussed the reference materials that their respective metrological institutions provide to aid method development and validation.