They definitely needed to be recalled.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) discovered alarming lead levels in cinnamon used in WanaBana’s apple cinnamon fruit puree, exceeding safety limits by over 2,000 times. This discovery emerged during an investigation into cases of lead poisoning linked to cinnamon applesauce pouches, with at least 69 reported cases in children.
Initially, WanaBana USA recalled its apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches due to elevated lead levels, later expanding the recall to include other products like Schnucks applesauce pouches with cinnamon and Weis cinnamon applesauce. The FDA identified cinnamon as the likely source of lead contamination.
These products were manufactured at a facility in Ecuador, and FDA investigators sampled cinnamon from there, supplied by a company named Negasmart, also based in Ecuador. Testing revealed remarkably high lead levels in the cinnamon samples, far exceeding international safety standards proposed by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
The Director of the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law and Graduate School, Laurie Beyranevand, expressed deep concern over these findings, highlighting the levels as extraordinarily unsafe.
Although the U.S. lacks broad regulations on lead levels in food, the FDA had previously proposed limits for processed baby food, but these guidelines aren’t expected to be finalized until 2025.
The FDA clarified that WanaBana products without cinnamon are unlikely to be affected by lead contamination. Recent tests in Ecuador found elevated lead levels in two additional WanaBana products, but extensive FDA sampling of over 136 non-cinnamon flavored WanaBana products showed no heightened lead levels. Additionally, the FDA confirmed that Negasmart doesn’t directly ship its cinnamon to the U.S., raising suspicions of potential economically motivated adulteration, a form of “food fraud,” where cheaper undisclosed ingredients are added to products, potentially explaining the lead contamination.
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