Would you trust an artificial sweetener in a pot of soy milk? Take vegetable oil out of your eggs? More than 30 U.S. companies manufacture baby food from highly toxic chemicals, even though only about 1 percent of the infant food-consuming public eats it regularly, a report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) alleges.

The report, called Hidden Chemicals in Kids’ Food, names 29 companies – including consumer staples brands Nestlé, General Mills, Kellogg’s, and Heinz – and alleges that they likely put sodium lauryl sulfate, cyanuric acid, propylene glycol, and a “snack sweetener” called aspartame into their formula. The UCS accused the companies of knowingly putting the toxic chemicals into their baby food “in order to get more money from their customers and investors.”

“They cut corners” to reach market-ready products, according to UCS’ report.

Several of the companies included in the report have taken steps to cut the ingredients from their babies’ products, however. Hillandale has made changes since the report was released, including removing phosphates from many of its brands. Nestlé said that it was not aware of any ingredients it had used in its products that were shown to be potentially toxic for children. But Mike Kerr, a spokesperson for General Mills, said that the company was confident its formulas “ensure all ingredients meet all regulation requirements for sodium phosphate, trans fat, sulfite, nitrates, PFOA/PFOS, and SLEP-mono.”

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