WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 20, 2026) — A new report, commissioned by Greenpeace International, has found microplastics in every baby food pouch it tested, estimating that a single Gerber pouch contains more than 5,000 microplastic particles and a Happy Baby Organics pouch contains more than 11,000. The study traced the likely source to the plastic lining of the pouches themselves.
The lab also detected a range of chemicals in both the baby food and the packaging, including a potential endocrine-disrupting chemical in the Gerber pouches.
Plastic packaging leaches chemicals into the food it touches, including chemicals linked to hormone disruption, developmental delays, metabolic disease, and fertility issues later in life. Babies absorb more, weigh less, and are still rapidly developing the brains and nervous systems they’ll rely on for life.
Dr. Leo Trasande, Director of NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Division of Environmental Pediatrics and NYU Langone Health’s Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards, said, “Finding microplastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals in baby food is exactly the early exposure we have been warning about for years. While alarming, we’re merely scratching the surface of a bigger problem — and yet we already have enough information to act with urgency. If we’re serious about children’s health, we cannot allow companies to serve them plastic with any meal, especially not their first.”
Key findings from the report, Tiny Plastics, Big Problem, include:
- In every gram of baby food tested, researchers found up to 54 microplastic particles in Gerber pouches and up to 99 particles in Happy Baby Organics pouches, on average. That’s equivalent to as many as 270 (Gerber) and 495 (Happy Baby Organics) microplastics per teaspoon.
- The study also identified a range of plastic-associated chemicals present in both the packaging and the food, including a chemical in the Gerber samples that is a known endocrine disruptor.
- The study suggests a link between polyethylene, the plastic lining the pouches, and some of the microplastics found in the baby food tested.
Lindsey Jurca, Senior Plastics Campaigner at Greenpeace USA, said: “Every pouch we tested came with an ingredient that Gerber didn’t include on the label: microplastics. Gerber promises ‘anything for baby.’ We’re asking for one simple thing: stop serving microplastics for lunch.”
The baby food aisle is filled with single-use plastic. Squeeze pouches are now the dominant format for baby food globally, accounting for 37% of the market by volume in 2025 and growing 8% annually. Made from flexible multilayer plastics that are notoriously difficult to recycle, they are a major source of pollution. Packaging already accounts for roughly 40% of all global plastic production.
Parents choosing these pouches aren’t making an uninformed choice; they’re shopping in a food system that has failed to protect them. No family should have to research the plastic chemistry of a baby food pouch to keep their child safe. That burden belongs to the companies that make them and the governments that regulate them.
What we’re calling for:
© Greenpeace USA
Greenpeace USA is calling on Gerber, one of the most trusted names in feeding American babies for nearly a century, to take two steps before its 100th anniversary: test every product for microplastics and publish the results publicly, and commit to a phased timeline to eliminate plastic pouches from its baby food line in favor of non-toxic, plastic-free, reuse systems.
Greenpeace USA is calling on the U.S. Government to pass the Ensuring Safe and Toxic-Free Foods Act, which would close loopholes that allow chemicals to be added to foods without thorough review, and to pass the Microplastics Safety Act, directing the FDA to conduct research on the impacts of microplastics in food and water with a focus on risks to children’s health. The U.S. should also join countries pushing for a Global Plastics Treaty that cuts plastic at its source: production.
“If plastics in baby food isn’t where we draw the line, what is? The case for intervention is clear, and the time is now. This research adds to a growing body of evidence revealing microplastics in our bodies, blood, and babies, underscoring the urgent need for a Global Plastics Treaty that puts an end to uncontrolled and unregulated plastic production and eliminates harmful chemicals from our food supply,” said Jurca.
Contact: Tanya Brooks, Senior Communications Specialist at Greenpeace USA, [email protected]
Greenpeace USA Press Desk: [email protected]
Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.
