The US Food and Drug Administration is warning parents against buying a brand of fruit puree pouches for their children because they may have contain high levels of lead, the agency said.
My money is on the cinnamon powder. Lead is kinda sweet, pretty common and quite heavy (and thus pretty cheaper per unit weight), and can make colorful pigments... if it wasn't for the toxicity, it could have made quite the versatile food additive. It wouldn't be the first time high levels of lead were found in dried spices/herbs; in fact, it's unsettlingly common.
I'm amused by the headline image showing the ingredients and nutrition panel of the packaging, as if that's where you are supposed to check to see if "lead" is listed.
The US Food and Drug Administration is warning parents against buying a brand of fruit puree pouches for their children after the snacks were found to have high levels of lead, the agency said.
Lead was found in WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches, which are sold nationally at multiple retailers, including Sam’s Club, Amazon and Dollar Tree, the FDA said.
“Parents and caregivers of toddlers and young children who may have consumed WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches should contact their child’s healthcare provider about getting a blood test,” the FDA said.
The issue came to light when North Carolina state health officials began investigating four children with elevated blood lead levels and found that the WanaBana pouches could be the common source of exposure, the FDA said.
Multiple lots of WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree were analyzed and North Carolina officials found “extremely high concentrations of lead,” the FDA said.
Exposure to lead can seriously harm a child’s health and cause damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, as well as learning, hearing, speech and behavior problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
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