Bentonite Clay Safety: FDA, Lead and Alikay Naturals

**Updated to add Alikay Naturals response**

I was alerted to this FDA release courtesy of a blog I follow - A Bountiful Thing. The press release from the FDA is warning consumers not to use Alikay Naturals Bentonite Me Baby Clay. The product is sold as 100% bentonite clay but FDA testing found that it contained high levels of lead.


This is quite serious as lead can poison most tissues of the human body including nerves, kidneys and the reproductive system. The effect on children is much worse with possible effects on brain development.

Ladies (and the odd gent who may be reading this), please be careful about the products you are purchasing. There is a trend of purchasing natural products as they are deemed to be safer or less toxic but please do your homework..........this may not be the only contaminated brand, it just happens to be the first one identified by the FDA.

For your safety when purchasing bentonite clay, consider buying a certified clay which will come with a breakdown of the trace elements in the clay or a food grade clay. None of these measures can guarantee a lead free product but are good measures to take.

Alikay Naturals have issued their own press release (link in the sources below) stating in brief that they consider the product safe but it should not be ingested without medical advice or used on children. They have also committed to doing their own independent tests.

Sources
FDA - http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm483838.htm
Lead Poisoning - http://www.southend.nhs.uk/pathology-handbook/test-directory/test-directory-l-index/lead/
Alikay Naturals response - http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-clear-reality-of-alikay-naturals-bentonite-me-baby-300212400.html

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