Beginning in October and throughout November, three brands of cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches — Schnucks, Weis and WanaBana — were recalled due to “elevated levels of lead” that was detected in the products, which are popular amongst children.
In the midst of the recall, which has so far made 65 kids ill, the Food and Drug Administration launched an investigation into how the products became contaminated, and it is now suspecting that the lead added to the products was done intentionally.
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“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 Jim Jones, FDA deputy commissioner for human foods, in a recent interview with Politico.
The three brands are all manufactured in an Austrofood facility in Ecuador. The FDA took samples of the cinnamon that was supplied to the facility used for the products and found “extremely high levels of lead contamination.”
“During the inspection, investigators collected samples of cinnamon supplied by Negasmart to Austrofoods,” said the FDA in a Dec. 18 update. “These samples have undergone analysis and results show extremely high levels of lead contamination, 5110 parts per million (ppm) and 2270 ppm.”
There is currently no lead limit for food or spices in the U.S., but the FDA also indicated in the update that the Codex Alimentarius Commission is looking into adopting a maximum level of 2.5 ppm for lead in spices such as cinnamon next year.
The FDA is exploring a theory that the contamination of lead found in the three applesauce brands is a case of economically motivated adulteration, also known as food fraud. This is when an ingredient in a food product is either removed or swapped out for a cheaper one to either reduce the cost of producing the product or make the value of the product seem greater than what it is.
For example, food fraud is prevalent in the seafood industry where fish are often mislabeled and sold as more expensive ones. Also, a product like honey is often subject to food fraud as it can be diluted with either corn syrup or sugar while advertised as 100% honey.
Food fraud is estimated to result in a loss of up to $40 billion in the food industry yearly and can pose a threat to the health of consumers, according to the FDA.
“Depending on what is added, substituted, or left out, food fraud can lead to health issues, some major, and even death,” according to the FDA website. “Some examples include lead poisoning from adulterated spices and allergic reactions to a hidden, substituted ingredient that contains even just one food allergen.”
For children, exposure to lead can cause short-term symptoms such as stomach aches, vomiting, confusion, seizures and more. Long-term symptoms can include brain damage, slow growth, hearing problems, learning difficulties, etc.
WanaBana and Austrofood are reportedly teaming up to create a website to refund customers who purchased one of the contaminated applesauce products and is developing a reimbursement program for health care costs.
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