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An outbreak of lead poisonings in children, tied to contaminated cinnamon applesauce pouches, illustrates the gaps in how heavy metals in foods are regulated.
Despite strong efforts to limit lead exposure from sources like paint and gasoline, the U.S. government doesn’t broadly limit lead levels in food, a blind spot that’s become all the more glaring, experts say, as cases of lead poisonings in young children linked to contaminated cinnamon applesauce continue to mount.
As of Tuesday, lead poisoning had been reported in at least 65 children, all younger than 6, who ate pouches of now-recalled cinnamon apple puree and cinnamon applesauce, up from 57 cases two weeks ago, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
Children under the age of 6 are most vulnerable to lead poisoning, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The heavy metal can lead to developmental problems, damage to the brain and nervous system, and problems with learning, behavior, hearing and speech. Lead exposure can lead to lower IQ and underperformance in school, according to the CDC.
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Answer: because we don’t like to limit the potential for profits.
And people with brain damage from lead poisoning continue to vote for politicians who will not limit the potential for profits.
And with higher lead levels we have fuller prisons. It’s just trickle down economics. A literal cradle to the prison pipeline.
Same as it ever was.
Because the FDA is underfunded and understaffed.
By design. Because the capitalists captured their own regulators and government that was supposed to protect everyone else from their insatiable greed warping society against its own interests to maximize private shareholder profit.
There’s more economic incentive as a career in fighting the FDA than fighting with the FDA. Our entire civilization rewards selfish malevolence and punishes empathetic benevolence.
Lead in baby food leads to more conservatives. Conservatives need to keep their numbers up.
Meanwhile EU set new, lower limits for lead in 2021.
Tangential question: at what point, in the manufacture of applesauce, would lead even come in the vicinity of the product. I just don’t see how unless it was deliberately added.
Lead is in soil and water. Stuff grown in that soil and water will contain some amount of it.
Yep. The FDA advises people not to cook with hot water from the tap, for example, because of the risk of lead exposure. I don’t think most people even know it’s a problem.
Hi, non American here. How is the hot tap different to the cold tap?
Apparently the hot water leaches lead out of fittings and solder joints much faster than cold water does
Something about hot water dissolving lead from the pipes. We have a lot of lead pipes.
Although true, that has nothing to do with high levels of lead in food products. It’s a totally separate issue.
Yeah but not enough to be recalled.
How much of your food is tested?
You seem confused
Nah. High lead levels aren’t a “super rare, could only be intentional” type occurrence. We just don’t test that much until people get sick. Babies and toddlers get sick a whole lot faster than adults. You might be eating things with higher than acceptable amounts of lead and not realize for decades.
Okay so I don’t understand what you’re arguing or why. Seems like you’re saying there’s high levels of lead in lots of food, but we don’t know because we don’t test… so how do you know if we don’t test?
I’m saying that levels of lead found in the cinnamon applesauce probably don’t occur just by chance, cuz they were so high they were causing symptoms in children which triggered a recall. That suggests there was more lead present than what naturally occurs. So where’d it come from? The FDA is pretty sure it’s the cinnamon that came from Ecuador, so here are some possibilities:
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The cinnamon was grown in a lead mine or something and had extremely high lead levels. Kind of doubt that.
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Introduced during processing by machinery containing lead in its metal components. Possible.
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Deliberately added to the cinnamon to alter its color or increase its weight. Also possible.
I’m guessing it’s either #2 or #3.
I’m arguing this premise is incorrect:
I’m saying that levels of lead found in the cinnamon applesauce probably don’t occur just by chance, cuz they were so high they were causing symptoms in children which triggered a recall. That suggests there was more lead present than what naturally occurs.
And going all conspiracy theorist on this is irresponsible until FDA has a chance to investigate.
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oh boy all food has lead in it
Since no one seems to have read the article, and the summary doesn’t answer the headline, I gave it a skim. Basically, regulations on lead in food are a work in progress, but progress tends to be slow when there isn’t much political pressure behind it, and that pressure tends to only come after something goes wrong.
The big problem is threading the gap between what is technically possible with existing technology and infrastructure, and what the limits would ideally be from a public health perspective. Everyone agrees there should be a limit, but finding the best number for each food product is a complicated process.
it can be difficult to agree on recommended lead levels because fruits, vegetables and whole grains all contain varying amounts of the heavy metal.
Why just baby food? Why aren’t there lead limits in all food?
Children can get messed up a lot more easily than adults can, since children are going through rapid development.
After about 25, there’s almost no real development aside from things like learning and exercise, so there’s less that can go wrong if adults eat certain contaminants.
There are a lot of unpleasant contaminants whose legal limit is not 0…
There should be eventually but young children are particularly susceptible so it’s a logical place to start
Bah, what’s next with you people, limits on the amount of plutonium?
