AB 899 Compliance Made Easy

AB 899 is a California law, the Baby Food Safety Act, that requires makers of baby food and supplements for children under two to publish monthly heavy-metal test results accessible via an on-label QR code. Brands must make this testing data available to consumers in order to sell covered products in California.

SB 646 is another California law that impacts how prenatal supplements are manufactured, marketed, and sold:

• Mandatory Lot-Level Testing: Each production lot must be tested for heavy metals – lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury – using accredited laboratories and validated methods.
• Publicly Accessible Test Results: Brands must publish test results online in a way that is easy for consumers to access, without requiring a lot code or proof of purchase.
• Clear Consumer Direction: Packaging and product pages must guide consumers to where this testing information lives.

Its core requirement, making monthly heavy-metal testing results available to consumers, took effect on January 1, 2025. Brands selling covered baby food and children's supplements in California need a compliant way to publish that data now.

Effective January 1, 2027. While federal regulations treat prenatal supplements as dietary products, with no required pre-market testing for heavy metals, SB 646 changes the landscape entirely. For the first time, brands must test every production lot for heavy metals and make those results publicly accessible to consumers.

Any brand selling covered products in California must comply, regardless of where it is headquartered. Because national distribution almost always includes California, most prenatal, baby-food, and children's-supplement brands are effectively in scope.