The sales amount of commercially available baby food products is increasing in Japan. Although babies and toddlers are vulnerable to iron deficiency, hijiki seaweed (Sargassum fusiforme) is regarded as effective iron source in Japan. Hijiki seaweed however contains excessive amount of inorganic arsenic. The provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of inorganic arsenic had been withdrawn by the World Health Organization (WHO) after once established, because the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) concluded that the current PTWI for inorganic arsenic was no longer protective for health. Attention to the use of hijiki seaweed for babies and toddlers is necessary. Therefore, we examined changes in the number of babyfood products containing hijiki seaweed in the market in Japan. Our study found that babyfood products were increased from 560 to 574, but babyfood products containing hijiki seaweed decreased from 24 (4.3%) to 17(3%).
