Consumer warning after FDA recalls cinnamon due to possible lead contamination

In March, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled ground cinnamon after identifying possible lead contamination.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that a safety alert was issued on March 6, 2024, advising consumers not to purchase or eat certain products containing ground cinnamon because elevated levels of lead were found in samples of these products.

The FDA specifically recalled six brands: La Fiesta Food Products, Moran Foods, MTCI, Raja Foods, Greenbriar International Inc. and El Chilar. The agency advised consumers to stop using these products and either discard them or return them to the point of purchase.

Now, nearly three months later, the New York State Department of Agriculture has issued a warning about another brand of cinnamon: Badia Spices.

According to the Daily Mail, consumers have also been warned not to consume ground ginger products from this brand. According to an analysis by the New York State Food Laboratory, both products have been found to contain “unsafe levels of lead greater than 1 ppm.” No illnesses have been reported to date.

Authorities are advising consumers across the country to check their kitchens for these spices and to discard them immediately if discovered.

According to the Daily Mail, “The contaminated batches include Badia ground ginger, sold in clear 1.5-ounce plastic bottles with black plastic caps, UPC code no. 033844002237 and batch no. 307922,” and “Badia ground cinnamon, sold in clear 2-ounce plastic bottles with black plastic caps, UPC code no. 033844000158 and batch nos. 305481 and 309528.”

In March, Dr. Conrad Choiniere, deputy director for regulatory affairs at the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), said the FDA did not know how the cinnamon products became contaminated with lead. He explained, “Lead can enter the food supply from the environment in which foods are grown, raised or processed.”

Its statement continued: “Lead levels in the environment can vary depending on geography and proximity to current or past uses of lead products. However, lead can also enter food through processing and manufacturing, such as the use of non-food-grade lead-containing equipment. FDA will work with companies to further investigate how these products became contaminated.”

According to ConsumerAffairs, the FDA then sent a letter to all cinnamon manufacturers, processors, distributors and facility operators in the United States outlining the controls needed to prevent contamination from other potential chemical hazards in ground cinnamon products.

This recall follows CNN’s report in February that a cinnamon processor was the likely source of lead contamination in applesauce products that has been linked to hundreds of illnesses among children in the United States.