Tainted Cinnamon Scare Expands

The FDA is warning consumers to avoid six brands of ground cinnamon after high lead levels were discovered.

In October, The Dallas Express reported that cinnamon applesauce pouches were recalled after they were found to be contaminated with the heavy metal. At the time, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services reported that four children suffered from possible lead toxicity after ingesting the apple-cinnamon fruit puree pouches.

Weeks later, in mid-November, more illnesses were reported, including at least two among children in Texas. As a result, The Texas Department of State Health Services issued a health advisory on November 15 to inform the public of the danger.

Later, in December, an investigation into the contamination was still ongoing. Jim Jones, Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods for the FDA, said the poisoning may have been deliberate.

“We’re still in the midst of our investigation. But so far all of the signals we’re getting lead to an intentional act on the part of someone in the supply chain and we’re trying to sort of figure that out,” said Jones, according to Politico.

So far, 460 confirmed and suspected lead poisoning cases have been linked to applesauce pouches flavored with cinnamon produced by WanaBana, Schnucks, and Weis.

Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it has expanded its testing and discovered other cinnamon products with elevated lead levels. The agency has identified six affected brands of ground cinnamon, which they have advised the manufacturers to recall and recommended that consumers immediately cease consuming.

The latest notice from the FDA stated that levels in the ground cinnamon were 2.03 to 3.4 parts per million. While no amount of lead exposure is safe, these levels are far below the lead levels initially found in the fruit puree pouches, which contained upwards of 5,110 parts per million of lead.