It’s unclear whether kids exposed to chromium are at risk for serious health problems. Information on the effects of eating food contaminated with chromium is limited.
Children who consumed the recalled lead-contaminated WanaBana cinnamon applesauce pouches may also have been exposed to the heavy metal chromium, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
The FDA tested samples of the recalled product as part of its investigation into cases of lead poisoning in the U.S. that are linked to the applesauce. In addition to WanaBana cinnamon applesauce, the recall included two other products made by the company: the supermarket brands Schnucks applesauce pouches with cinnamon and Weis cinnamon applesauce.
As of Dec. 29, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had received 287 confirmed, probable and suspected reports of elevated blood lead levels linked to the pouches across 37 states.
How does this even happen???
Last I heard, the speculation was that it’s from what’s known as food fraud: adding cheap fillers to foods in order to maximize profit. Hard to say where on the chain this happened- the company could have innocently purchased what they thought was legit cinnamon, or they could have been in on it.
Another possibility is that the cinnamon was grown in an area with naturally occuring lead (and I guess now chromium), or it could have been unknowinglyirrigated with water contaminated by lead and chromium.
Either way, this shit scares the life out of me. I hate that the FDA doesn’t do more to protect us (and frickin’ kids!) from this sort of injustice
Yeah that’s fucked, how can you even protect yourself against that sort of thing