Organic Baby Cereal

The USDA Organic seal means at least 95 percent of the ingredients, not counting salt and water, are certified organic and that an accredited certifying agent approved the label. For cereal, that is the grain itself: how it was grown, stored and milled.

The seal is not a contaminant test. The American Academy of Pediatrics says organic baby foods may have lower levels of certain pesticides, but that organic foods often contain similar levels of heavy metals as non-organic foods, because the metals come from soil and water.

Rice tends to absorb more arsenic from groundwater than other crops. In August 2020 the FDA finalized an action level of 100 parts per billion for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal. In January 2025 it added an action level for lead of 20 parts per billion in dry infant cereals.

Action levels are not safety seals. The FDA describes them as levels at which it may regard a food as adulterated, and its guidance is not legally binding on its own. As of the Closer to Zero page updated in January 2025, action levels for arsenic and cadmium in other baby foods were still in development.

The practical advice is the same from both agencies. The FDA says other iron-fortified infant cereals, including oat, barley and multigrain, can be a first or early cereal. The AAP says rice cereal does not need to be the first or only cereal used. Our guide to heavy metals in baby food goes deeper.

The AAP advises that if you feed your baby premade cereal, it should be made for babies and iron fortified, and that a baby's diet should include foods that provide iron and zinc, such as meat or iron-fortified cereals. Organic status has no bearing on this. Some organic cereals add iron and some do not.

Look for an iron source in the ingredient list and a value on the nutrition panel. If your baby's cereal has no added iron, ask your pediatrician where the iron in their diet should come from.

The AAP recommends breast milk alone for about the first 6 months, then continued breastfeeding alongside solid foods. Readiness matters more than the calendar: a baby should sit with good head control before starting. Ask your pediatrician when your baby is ready.

Feed cereal from a spoon. The AAP says not to put baby cereal in a bottle because a baby could choke, unless a doctor has advised it for reflux. Introduce one single-ingredient food every 3 to 5 days and watch for reactions. Our guide to starting solids with organic foods covers first foods, and you can pair cereal with organic purees.