FDA Concludes Infant Formula Safety Review — What Parents Should Know

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been testing samples of the nation's infant formula for a variety of different items to ensure the U.S. supply of the childhood essential is safe for consumption.

According to reports, the FDA has concluded its testing that was pushed by the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in 2025, and is ready to share the findings of the 300 different samples it tested throughout the process.

Parents and caregivers will want to pay especially close attention to this information, since it will determine whether or not they still feel comfortable giving their children domestic infant formula, especially after RFK Jr. has rallied against the number of chemicals in American food, calling for the nutrient review of several items.

Keep reading to learn more about the FDA infant formula safety results and what they might mean for your family.

According to Reuters, the FDA tested more than 300 samples of formula from 16 different brands sold across the country. The agency was interested in screening the products for a variety of different contaminants, including heavy metals, phthalates, synthetic chemicals, and pesticides.

"The amount was so minuscule that is very encouraging ​to give families, physicians comfort in that it seems that infant formulas are very safe," a professor of pediatrics told the publication.

Additionally, the agency also tested a few samples of breast milk, where the FDA discovered that most of the samples contained at least one of the contaminants it was testing for, and just 15 percent showed zero contaminants.

Despite the good news uncovered during testing, the FDA has ordered additional testing for certain samples, according to a statement from the FDA, "as part of the agency’s ongoing robust monitoring and oversight efforts and will take additional action where appropriate.”

Some of the items that turned up in the samples included mercury (which was only found in 5 percent of the samples), lead (which was found in 80 percent of the samples), and pesticides (which were only found in 1 percent of the samples).

Most samples only had a limited number of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to Reuters, which are also known as forever chemicals.

Many of the heavy metals and other contaminants that were found were detected in small amounts, which hints at the fact that they could have been naturally occurring in the samples, since some of these things can be found in the environment.

That should bring some much-needed relief to parents and caregivers who may be worried about the nation's formula supply, especially during a time when recalls seem to be popping up more and more as more robust testing gets underway.

Hopefully the additional testing the FDA is doing produces some of the same results, reinforcing the safety of U.S. formula.