Understanding Heavy Metals in Our Vitamins

What Are Heavy Metals?

Heavy metals is the name for specific elements found naturally in the environment—in the air, water, and soil. Some heavy metals, like cadmium, mercury, lead, and arsenic, have the potential to cause health problems if high amounts are ingested. That’s why Renzo’s works hard to keep these metals as low as possible in our products, ensuring they’re safe for your family.

How are Heavy Metals Measured?

Heavy metal content is measured using advanced laboratory techniques,which can detect extremely tiny amounts of heavy metals, which are usually reported in micrograms per kilogram (mcg/kg) or parts per billion (ppb). Just looking at ppb numbers can sometimes confuse people. While these units sound very precise, it’s important to understand them in the context of daily serving sizes.

A product with a low ppb might seem safer, but if you eat a large amount of it, you could end up getting more heavy metals than from something with a higher ppb in a smaller serving. That’s why it has not been useful to set a single ppb value for heavy metal limits across all food types and dietary supplements—it often depends on how much people actually eat of these items.

The Importance of Serving Size for Our Dietary Supplements

Renzo’s Melty Tabs are packed with nutrients in a small, compact tablet. We don’t use unnecessary fillers, so our tablets deliver more vitamins and minerals in a smaller size compared to other products like gummies. For example, it might take 3 or 4 gummies to match the nutrients in one of our Melty Tabs. Even though our tablets might show higher ppb values compared to baby food, the actual amount of heavy metals mcg you’re exposed to is still very small because our servings are so compact.

Regulatory Standards

The FDA hasn’t set ppb limits for heavy metals in dietary supplements, but they are working on a program called “Closer to Zero.” This program aims to set safety levels for foods often eaten by babies and young children, like rice cereals and juices, based on how much kids usually eat.

California’s Proposition 65, however, has strict daily safety limits for heavy metals in many products, including dietary supplements as below:

  • Lead: 0.5 mcg/day

  • Inorganic Arsenic: 10 mcg/day

  • Cadmium: 4.1 mcg/day

  • Mercury: 0.3 mcg/day

These values are based on the actual amount of heavy metals one would be exposed to when consuming the daily serving size for a product. These values are helpful when looking to identify products that have low heavy metal contaminants as compared to just looking at ppb values. That is why all our finished products are tested by third-party laboratories to ensure they meet these rigorous guidelines of Prop 65. 

Why Baby Food Standards Don’t Apply to Our Products

Sometimes online sources criticize supplements using outdated or unrelated guidelines. For example, the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 proposed limits for heavy metals in baby foods:

  • Lead and Cadmium: 5 ppb

  • Mercury: 2 ppb

  • Arsenic: 10 ppb

These levels were meant for foods eaten in large amounts by babies and toddlers under 36 months old, not for supplements like ours, which are made for kids 2 years and older and are taken in much smaller servings. Comparing these standards to our products isn’t accurate or fair.

Our Commitment to Safety

At Renzo’s, your family’s safety is our priority. Here’s how we ensure it:

  • Strict Testing: We test all our products through trusted, third-party labs to meet the strict safety guidelines of Proposition 65.

  • High-Quality Ingredients: We source only the best ingredients and test everything thoroughly to make sure our vitamins are safe.

  • Clear Information: We share honest, easy-to-understand facts so you can make informed choices for your kids.

We’re here to help you feel confident about the safety and quality of your children’s vitamins. Should you have any concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us via phone or email at (786)703-6424 or hello@renzosvitamins.com.