Baby food will be required to be tested for toxic heavy metals under a new law in Illinois beginning next year.

Bill SB0073 will prohibit manufacturers from selling, distributing, or offering baby food that contains toxic heavy metals exceeding the limits approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

Those metals include arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and other materials under that term. 

Manufacturers will be required to begin monthly testing samples of their final product beginning Jan. 1, 2026. 

They will then have to make that information available publicly beginning Jan. 1, 2027.  

The law will also provide parents with information about the safety of their infants' food.

Consumers, based on that information, can report their baby food to the Department of Public Health if toxic heavy metals exceed limits by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.