Nitrates in vegetables for babies are no reason to take spinach or lettuce off the menu, but they do explain two European rules and a few kitchen habits. The European Union caps food for infants at 200 mg of nitrates per kilo, ten to twenty-five times less than for spinach or lettuce sold fresh. EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority) considers lettuce no problem for children; only too much spinach, more than one meal a day, may pose a risk for some infants. In 2022, Anses, the French food safety agency, mainly asked people to vary their vegetables.
This article brings together the texts and the figures: where nitrates come from, what they do in a baby's body, which limits apply, and how to prepare leafy greens at home.
Why talk about nitrates in vegetables for babies?
Nitrates occur naturally in plants, which draw them from the soil to build their proteins. Leafy vegetables accumulate the most: spinach, lettuce, rocket, chard, but also beetroot and celery. Levels vary with light, season and growing method. A vegetable grown under cover in winter contains more than one grown in an open field in summer, which the EU regulation recognises by setting different limits depending on the season.
For adults, dietary nitrates are not a problem at normal intakes. Things are different for infants, and the strictest rules were written with them in mind.
What is the risk for an infant?
In the body, some of the nitrate is converted into nitrite. Nitrites can oxidise haemoglobin, which then loses its ability to carry oxygen. This is methaemoglobinaemia, sometimes called “blue baby syndrome”. The very young are more sensitive to it than older children: their haemoglobin is more vulnerable and their repair enzymes are less active.
In its statement of December 2010, EFSA concluded that nitrate levels in lettuce were not a health concern for children. For spinach, it found usual levels were not a concern either, but that “a risk for some infants eating more than one meal of spinach per day cannot be excluded”. The 2011 regulation repeats this sentence word for word.
According to EFSA, three factors increase the conversion of nitrates into nitrites: a bacterial gastrointestinal infection in the child, keeping cooked leafy vegetables at room temperature, and blending into a purée, which speeds up the process when the purée is left standing. These three points shape the kitchen habits set out below.
Nitrates in vegetables for babies: the maximum levels in force
The limits were set by Regulation (EU) No 1258/2011 of 2 December 2011, which amended Regulation 1881/2006, and are now carried over into Regulation (EU) 2023/915 on contaminants. They are expressed in milligrams of nitrates per kilo of product.
- Baby foods and processed cereal-based foods for infants and young children: 200 mg/kg.
- Fresh spinach: 3,500 mg/kg.
- Preserved, deep-frozen or frozen spinach: 2,000 mg/kg.
- Fresh lettuce other than iceberg: 4,000 to 5,000 mg/kg from October to March, 3,000 to 4,000 from April to September, depending on whether it is grown under cover or outdoors.
- Iceberg lettuce: 2,000 to 2,500 mg/kg.
- Rocket: 6,000 to 7,000 mg/kg depending on the season.
The contrast speaks for itself. A shop-bought jar of spinach baby food must stay below 200 mg/kg, whereas the fresh spinach you buy can legally contain 3,500. Baby food manufacturers therefore choose their raw materials and harvest periods to stay under that ceiling. A homemade purée made with fresh spinach is subject to no limit at all: it is the parent who manages quantity and frequency.
The recitals of the 2011 regulation explain how the thresholds for fresh vegetables were chosen. Growers cannot control light or climate, and the earlier limits were often exceeded despite good agricultural practice. The Commission judged that a slight increase for spinach and lettuce was acceptable, as EFSA had found that its effect on young children's exposure would be small. The same reasoning, applied to another contaminant, is explained in our article on arsenic in rice for babies.
What did Anses say about nitrates in 2022?
The Anses opinion of 6 July 2022, based on a collective expert report from June 2022, covers the whole population. It adopts EFSA's acceptable daily intakes: 3.7 mg per kilo of body weight per day for nitrates, 0.07 mg for nitrites.
Vegetables account for 62 to 69% of nitrate exposure, drinking water for 20 to 25%, and additives for less than 4%. In children, pulses, leafy vegetables, fruit and sprouts contribute in comparable proportions. Fewer than 1.5% of adults and children exceed the acceptable daily intake for nitrates.
For nitrites, the picture is different: cured and processed meats account for 41 to 63% of exposure, and fewer than 0.4% of children exceed the acceptable intake. Anses recognises an association between colorectal cancer risk and exposure to nitrites and nitrates from processed meat and water. It recommends limiting processed meats to 150 g a week, which removes the excess in children. It also advises at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day “from varied sources”, so that leafy greens are varied too.
One point concerns infants directly. When a derogation allows tap water containing between 50 and 100 mg/L of nitrates, it must come with a recommendation that pregnant women and infants do not drink it. The 50 mg/L rule and how to choose water are explained in our article on which water to use for baby's bottle.
Its 2016 infant total diet study screened 670 substances in the diet of children under 3. Anses did not list nitrates among the sixteen substances calling for particular vigilance. Inorganic arsenic, lead and acrylamide are on that list; nitrates are not.
Should babies avoid spinach?
No. No authority recommends removing spinach, lettuce or beetroot from the diet of a baby who has started solids. What EFSA and Anses say comes down to three words: variety, frequency, freshness.
Weaning starts between 4 and 6 months, never before 4 months, as we explain in our article on starting solids according to Anses. Leafy greens can be introduced like any other vegetable, in small amounts and alternating with carrot, courgette, pumpkin or green beans. A spinach meal every single day is precisely the situation EFSA advises avoiding in infants.
How should you prepare leafy greens for a baby?
The following recommendations follow from the three factors identified by EFSA. They are kitchen common sense, and none requires any special equipment.
- Cook, cool, serve. A leafy-vegetable purée is eaten soon after it is made, or cooled quickly and then kept in the fridge until the next day. It is not left at room temperature.
- Freeze portions in advance. Cold stops the conversion of nitrates into nitrites. Portions frozen on the day are better than a big batch of purée kept in the fridge for several days.
- Don't serve spinach purée that has been reheated twice. Each spell at room temperature restarts the process.
- Alternate vegetables. Leafy greens once or twice a week, in small portions, with root vegetables and fruiting vegetables the rest of the time.
- Pause spinach during a tummy bug. EFSA recommends this explicitly: a bacterial infection encourages the conversion into nitrites.
- Choose what's in season. Summer, field-grown leafy greens contain fewer nitrates than winter greenhouse ones, as the regulatory limits reflect.
Organising homemade meals, storing purées and staying safe in the kitchen are covered in our article on cooking with a baby. When your child starts eating independently, towards the end of the first year, quantities become easier to keep an eye on: our article on the age at which a baby eats with a spoon on their own gives some pointers.
Jars or homemade purée: which contains fewer nitrates?
The jar, by design. It is subject to the 200 mg/kg ceiling and checked, whereas homemade purée depends on the vegetable you buy, which can legally contain up to 3,500 mg/kg in the case of spinach. That doesn't make homemade purée dangerous: a baby who eats a small portion of fresh spinach once or twice a week stays well below the acceptable daily intake. But for an infant under 6 months who is just discovering vegetables, a jar of spinach offers a guarantee that home cooking cannot.
The question doesn't arise for carrot, courgette or sweet potato, which are low in nitrates and remain the easiest first weaning vegetables to make yourself.
Key takeaways
Nitrates occur naturally in leafy vegetables, and infants are more sensitive to them than adults because of the risk of methaemoglobinaemia. The European Union caps baby foods at 200 mg/kg, against 3,500 for fresh spinach. EFSA sees no problem with lettuce and warns against more than one spinach meal a day for infants. Anses advises varying vegetables and limiting processed meats, the main source of nitrites. At home: cook fresh, cool quickly, freeze, alternate. Questions about our materials are answered in the Treelys® FAQ.
Sources
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 1258/2011 of 2 December 2011 as regards maximum levels for nitrates in foodstuffs, Official Journal of the EU of 3 December 2011. Levels carried over into Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023.
- EFSA, “EFSA assesses possible health risk for children from nitrate in leafy vegetables”, press release of 9 December 2010. Statement of the CONTAM Panel on nitrates in leafy vegetables for infants and young children, EFSA Journal 2010.
- EFSA, scientific opinion “Nitrate in vegetables”, CONTAM Panel, 2008.
- Anses, opinion of 6 July 2022 on the assessment of risks linked to the consumption of nitrates and nitrites, request 2020-SA-0106, collective expert report of June 2022.
- Anses, “Étude de l'alimentation totale infantile” (infant total diet study), press release of 30 September 2016.
