Parents feeding infants from a squeeze pouch or a formula tub may be serving more than food. A growing body of research shows that tiny plastic particles and plastic-related chemicals can move from packaging into what babies eat and drink. Mothers and anti-plastic advocates are now pressing lawmakers and manufacturers to change how those products are packaged.
The most direct evidence came this spring. Testing commissioned by Greenpeace International and performed by the Norwegian lab SINTEF Ocean analyzed three pouches each of two widely sold products: Nestlé’s Gerber yogurt puree and Danone’s Happy Baby Organics fruit puree. The lab found more than 5,000 microplastic particles in a single Gerber pouch and more than 11,000 in a Happy Baby Organics pouch. That works out to as many as 495 particles per teaspoon. In its May report, the group said some of the particles matched polyethylene, the plastic that lines the pouches, and that tests also detected a range of plastic-associated chemicals in both the packaging and the food.
Rachel Bustamante, policy manager for the Plastic Pollution Coalition, said the problem goes well beyond pouches.
“The shelves are lined with plastic and other packaging that’s designed to come in contact with food for babies,” Bustamante said. “It’s disconcerting to know that there’s research raising questions about the packaging we are exposing our children to while these products are presented as everyday necessities.”
Recalls have added to the scrutiny
Baby food safety has also been in the news because of recalls. In July, PT Organics Limited of Lake Oswego, Oregon, recalled 4-ounce Pumpkin Tree Peter Rabbit Organics Banana & Strawberry Fruit Puree pouches. The company said a packaging defect could leave a strand of soft, food-grade plastic in the finished product. The pouches were sold nationwide at Kroger, Meijer and Target between March 6 and July 13, 2026. No injuries were reported. That recall involved a visible piece of plastic rather than microscopic particles, but it underscored how closely infant food and its packaging are linked.
Packaging chemicals are under a sharper lens
The concern isn’t limited to particles. In a study published Sept. 1 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, researchers led by the Swiss-based Food Packaging Forum identified 1,222 priority food contact chemicals classified as harmful to human health. These are substances used in making packaging and other materials that touch food. The researchers sorted them into 38 chemical groups, including phthalates and PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals.”
Exposure may begin before birth. A study published in March in the journal eClinicalMedicine, led by NYU Langone Health pediatrician Dr. Leonardo Trasande, estimated that exposure to two phthalates used to make plastic flexible, DEHP and DiNP, was linked to nearly 2 million preterm births and about 74,000 newborn deaths worldwide in 2018. The authors cautioned that the study was not designed to prove the chemicals directly cause preterm birth.
What’s tested, and what isn’t
Federal regulators have focused on other contaminants. In April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released an analysis of more than 300 infant formula samples collected from 2023 to 2025 under its “Operation Stork Speed” review. The agency found heavy metals, pesticides, phthalates and PFAS at undetectable or very low levels and declared the U.S. formula supply safe. Microplastics were not part of that analysis.
Maryland has gone further than most states on baby food, though not on plastics. Under Rudy’s Law, passed by the General Assembly in 2024, manufacturers selling baby food in Maryland have had to test their products monthly for arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury since Jan. 1, 2025. Since Jan. 1 of this year, they have also had to post the results online, reachable through a QR code on the label. The law does not address microplastics or packaging chemicals.
In Congress, the bipartisan Microplastics Safety Act was introduced in July 2025 by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) along with Reps. Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.) and Greg Steube (R-Fla.). It would direct the FDA to study and report on how microplastics in food and water affect human health, with particular attention to children. Greenpeace is urging passage of that bill and the Ensuring Safe and Toxic-Free Foods Act, and is asking Gerber to test all its products for microplastics and phase out plastic pouches.
“A policy problem, not a parenting one”
Bustamante argues that the burden shouldn’t fall on parents reading labels in the grocery aisle. She called microplastics in infant food and formula a policy problem, not a parenting one, and urged Congress to regulate exposure and companies to develop alternatives.
“Our policymakers have the power to change this food system that makes plastic exposure so difficult to avoid. Plastic hasn’t been around forever,” she said. “Our grandparents and older generations can remember food packaged in a different way. So some of it’s going back to that, and some of it’s innovating.”
In the meantime, parents who want to reduce their children’s exposure can consult the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s free Healthy Baby Guide. Southern Maryland readers who follow the Chesapeake Bay may recognize the issue from another angle: researchers have found tidal marshes trapping microplastics throughout the bay’s ecosystem.
