Lead gets the headlines. Cadmium gets the kidney damage. Sweet potato, carrots, leafy greens, and rice all draw cadmium from soil and concentrate it in the parts of the plant that go into baby food.
Lead poisoning has a sharp dose-response and a familiar story. Cadmium accumulates silently for decades and damages the kidneys, the bones, and the reproductive system. The FDA does not have an interim reference level for cadmium in food the way it does for lead.
Sweet potato. Carrots. Spinach and other leafy greens. Brown rice. Sunflower seeds. Cacao. These are not bad foods. They are foods that need source-tested.
Sweet potato 1-2x a week, not every day.
Oats, quinoa, and barley test much lower than brown rice.
The AB 899 lookup shows cadmium alongside lead.
