One sample of cinnamon used as an ingredient in the recalled WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree contained lead levels that were more than 2,000 times higher than proposed safety limits, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday.
The FDA tested samples of the spice as it investigates at least 65 cases of lead poisoning in children in the U.S. that are linked to contaminated cinnamon applesauce pouches.
At the end of October, WanaBana USA announced a recall of its apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches because of elevated lead levels. In November, the recall was expanded to include two other products made by the company: the supermarket brands Schnucks applesauce pouches with cinnamon and Weis cinnamon applesauce.
The FDA has said that the cinnamon in the products is most likely the cause of the lead contamination.
The applesauce pouches are made at a facility in Ecuador called Austrofoods. FDA investigators sampled cinnamon at that facility. The cinnamon comes from another supplier in Ecuador, Negasmart.
The FDA said its testing showed that the cinnamon samples contained “extremely high levels of lead.” One sample contained lead levels of 5,110 parts per million, about 2,000 times higher than proposed international safety standards from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization of 2.5 parts per million for spices that include cinnamon.
Another sample contained lead levels of 2,270 parts per million.
Laurie Beyranevand, director of the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law and Graduate School, called the findings frightening.
“These levels are so far beyond the realm of what might be expected or considered safe,” she said.
The U.S. doesn’t broadly limit lead levels in foods. In January, the FDA proposed limits on lead in processed baby food, although those guidelines aren’t expected to be finalized until 2025.
The FDA said on Monday that it doesn’t…
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