Study: Hidden Fluoride in Infant Foods Can Mar Babies' Teeth

NEW YORK, March 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Babies risk dental fluorosis from unlabeled fluoride in infant foods, say researchers in General Dentistry, reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF).

Detectable fluoride levels, found in all 360 samples tested, is due to pesticides, fertilizers, soil, groundwater and/or fluoridated water used in processing, the researchers report.

Foods containing mechanically de-boned chicken and turkey were highest in fluoride because fluoride-saturated bone dust gets into the finished product.

Babies fed excess fluoride can grow white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted teeth (dental fluorosis). Fluorosis is trending upwards in severity and incidence say researchers who measured .26 mg/fluoride in chicken baby food which is 65% of a 7-month-old's recommended daily fluoride intake.

"Consuming greater than 1 serving/day of the high fluoride concentration products in this study would cause children of the target age to exceed the recommended daily fluoride intake," they write. Average 7-month-old's shouldn't ingest more than 0.4 mg of fluoride daily, they advise.

All infant formula, infant juices and virtually all beverages and foods contain fluoride. Most US public water supplies are fluoridated. Some fluoridated bottled waters are marketed specifically for babies' consumption.

Often ignored is the American Dental Association's (ADA) advice that fluoride therapy and prescribing be based upon children's total fluoride intake. "Caries-free children in fluoridated areas are not likely to benefit from topical fluorides," according to NYS DofH dentist J. Kumar.

Instead of reducing exposure, more is encouraged by advising that a toxic 22,600 parts-per-million fluoride varnish be painted on babies' teeth as they emerge and then brushing daily with a rice-sized dab of fluoridated toothpaste (.1 mg fluoride) that inevitably will be swallowed. Blood fluoride levels also spike after varnish application.

Although never FDA approved, the ADA recommends fluoride supplements starting at six months. The ADA backtracked its own 2006 guidance to avoid mixing infant formula with fluoridated water to reduce fluorosis risk.

"…a person's greatest susceptibility to fluorosis occurs within the first 2 years of life, as a result, fluoride intake from all sources should be monitored closely during this critical period," the researchers caution.

This information rarely reaches the public.

"America's children are fluoride-overdosed; yet tooth decay is a growing epidemic," says attorney Paul Beeber, NYSCOF President. "Whose interests are being served by selling more fluoride?"

Contact: Paul Beeber, JD, 516-433-8882 [email protected]

http://www.FluorideAction.Net

SOURCE NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation