FDA Warns Against Cinnamon Products For Elevated Lead Levels

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, amid the ongoing reports of lead poisoning in young children, announced several additional steps to address concerns about elevated lead levels in various cinnamon products. The agency also recommended recall of certain ground cinnamon products sold by a number of brands at six different retail chains that were found to contain elevated levels of lead.

The agency's actions were taken following the recent incident associated with certain cinnamon apple sauce pouches that resulted in lead poisoning in young children.

FDA's recommended recall includes ground cinnamon products by La Fiesta Food Products sold through La Superior and SuperMercados retailers; Marcum, Moran Foods, LLC sold through Save A Lot; MTCI through SF Supermarket; SWAD, Raja Foods LLC through Patel Brothers; Supreme Tradition Greenbriar International, Inc. through Dollar Tree and Family Dollar; and El Chilar through La Joya Morelense.

The agency, through sample testing, has determined that these ground cinnamon products contain elevated levels of lead and that prolonged exposure to these products may be unsafe.

The short-term exposures to very low levels of lead may not elicit any symptoms, and it is possible that increased blood lead levels may be the only apparent sign of lead exposure.

The additional signs and symptoms of lead exposure likely include acute exposure to higher levels of lead or chronic exposure to lead. If a child is exposed to enough lead for a protracted period of time, it could cause permanent damage to the central nervous system, likely resulting in learning disorders, developmental defects, and other long-term health problems.

For adults, chronic lead exposure is associated with kidney dysfunction, hypertension, and neurocognitive effects.

However, no illnesses or adverse events have been reported to date related to the ground cinnamon products of these six makers.

The FDA said it has sent a letter to all cinnamon manufacturers, processors, distributors and facility operators in the U.S., urging them to implement controls to prevent contamination from potential chemical hazards in food, including ground cinnamon products.

The FDA has recommended the distributors and manufacturers of products found to contain elevated levels of lead to recall their respective products, with the exception of the MTCI cinnamon, as the agency was unable to reach the firm to share its findings.

North Bergen, New Jersey-based Colonna Brothers already recalled its Ground Cinnamon under Marcum and Supreme Tradition brand names for the same concern after directed by the FDA.

Consumers are urged to throw away and not to buy these alerted ground cinnamon products.

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