A recent outbreak of lead poisoning from cinnamon in applesauce has drawn attention to the toxic effect the heavy metal can have on children. The cinnamon in the applesauce is believed to have been intentionally tainted, possibly to add to its value as a commodity sold by weight. It had unusually high levels of lead.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 400 children were poisoned by the applesauce outbreak. Their median blood lead levels were six times higher than the average seen at the height of the Flint water crisis, the CDC said.
Although such cases of poisoning are rare, lead is a widespread contaminant and has come under increasing scrutiny. Here’s what you need to know.
How are children exposed to lead?
Paint is one of the most common and well-known sources of lead. Children can also be exposed by drinking water that flows through old lead pipes.
Lead poisoning through food is less common but does occur. Lead can enter food at low levels when plants draw it up from the soil. For example, a study on baby food found that sweet potatoes had some of the highest levels of lead among the products tested.
Sometimes a lead-based colorant is illegally added to spices to make them swell or make their color pop. The Food and Drug Administration suspects the additive caused the applesauce contamination last year.
How did applesauce get contaminated?
The FDA, citing investigators in Ecuador, said a spice mill there likely added the coloring agent, lead chromate powder, to the cinnamon before it was mixed with the applesauce.
An investigation by The New York Times and the nonprofit health journalism organization The Examination found that cinnamon and tainted applesauce passed every checkpoint meant to safeguard the U.S. food supply. Ecuadorian food processor Austrofood was not required to test for toxic metals and did not, records show.
International inspections by the FDA have not come close to meeting a goal in a landmark 2011 food safety law. The agency is conducting half as many on-site food inspections at the border as it did a decade ago. Food importers, who are required to inspect foreign foods, allow applesauce into the country.
How do I know if my children have high blood lead levels?
Lead exposure can go undetected until levels build up, doctors say. High levels of lead can lead to stomach pain, vomiting, fatigue, learning disabilities, developmental delays and even seizures.
Pediatricians recommend blood tests for infants and toddlers who live in homes built before 1978 or have other risk factors. Medicaid programs and some states require screening, but it’s usually not recommended for children older than 3 years.
While officials said there is no safe level of lead, parents don’t automatically need to worry if traces of lead show up in a child’s blood test. The average blood lead level among young US children is less than 1 microgram per deciliter of blood. “I don’t think they should be concerned at all,” said Kim Dietrich, emeritus professor of epidemiology and environmental health at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
Studies that find IQ score deficits and connections to ADHD tend to focus on children with levels of 5 and above. According to the CDC, about 95 percent of children in the United States have lead levels below 3.5 micrograms per deciliter of blood.
Some experts have even begun to question the CDC’s position that there is no “safe level” of lead, given its ubiquitous nature and the small effects low levels have had on millions of children in the United States.
How can I protect my children from the dangers of lead?
Parents can be sure their children are getting a healthy diet rich in calcium and iron, minerals that are absorbed through the same pathways as lead, said Dr. Ana Navas-Acien, chair of research at Columbia University’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences.
She said another good strategy is to feed young children a wide variety of foods, an approach that can limit harm from eating too much of a contaminated product. If children have exposures that affect their development, said Dr. Navas-Acien, parents can counteract some of the effects by keeping children in a stimulating learning environment and talking, reading and playing with them.
What is the government doing to protect children?
The Biden administration has invested billions of dollars to upgrade aging lead water lines and homes.
The FDA says it is reviewing the applesauce poisoning to determine if the agency needs to make changes. So far, officials have said little about the failure of thousands of food importing companies to initiate foreign food inspection programs.
The FDA also says it wants to move forward with its “Closer to Zero” initiative, asking Congress to give it the authority to set lead limits in foods marketed to babies and toddlers and require companies to test. A group of 20 attorneys general called on the FDA to use its existing powers to make the move.
