Parents of children sickened by lead linked to tainted fruit pouches in USA fear for kids future

PSM News /

Dec 21,2023

 

When Cora Dibert went for a routine blood test in October, the toddler brought along her favorite new snack: a squeeze pouch of WanaBana cinnamon-flavored apple puree.

 

"She sucked them dry," recalls her 26-year-old mother, Morgan Shurtleff, of Elgin, Oklahoma.

 

Within a week, the family got an alarming call. The test showed that the 1-year-old had lead poisoning, with nearly four times as much lead as the level that raises concern. Only later did Shurtleff learn that that the fruit puree Cora's grandmother bought at a Dollar Tree store may have been the cause.

 

"That was the scariest thing that ever happened to me," Shurtleff says.

 

Cora is among dozens of young kids across the U.S. poisoned by lead linked to tainted pouches of the cinnamon-and-fruit puree.

 

The exact number of affected children is unclear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports at least 205 confirmed, probable, or suspected cases from 33 states. Using a different reporting method, the Food and Drug Administrationcounts at least 69 kids ages 6 and younger sickened in 28 states as of Dec. 14.

 

Tests show victims had blood lead readings up to eight times higher than the federal reference level of concern, health officials said. Samples of the puree showed lead contamination more than 200 times higher than the FDA allows.

 

The pouches were sold under three brands - WanaBana, Schnucks and Weis. The products were produced at a plant in Ecuador and first imported to the U.S. in November 2022, the officials said.

 

Testing of cinnamon samples supplied to the factory showed "extremely high" levels of lead - more than 2,000 times higher than a proposed FDA maximum, the agency said.

 

FDA officials have raised the prospect that the contamination was intentional. One possibility is that the cinnamon was contaminated for economic reasons, the agency said. That could mean an ingredient such as lead may have been added to boost the value of the cinnamon.

 

Source: Healthworld