Current:Home > FinanceApplesauce pouches recalled for lead could have been contaminated intentionally: Reports -Thrive Capital Insights
Applesauce pouches recalled for lead could have been contaminated intentionally: Reports
View
Date:2025-04-15 14:21:45
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating whether recalled cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches, which had high lead concentrations and have sickened at least 65 children, were intentionally contaminated.
In late October, the FDA issued a public health alert advising against consuming or buying WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches because they may contain elevated levels of lead. Subsequently, the agency added Schnuck brand and Weis brand products to the recall. The agency has gotten 65 reports of illnesses potentially linked to the products and all impacted have been under 6 years old, the FDA said this week.
During its investigation, the agency has found that the lead may have been added as "an intentional act on the part of someone in the supply chain and we’re trying to sort of figure that out,” Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods, told Politico, which first reported the development.
Quaker Oats product recall:Food maker recalls some of its granola bars, cereals for possible salmonella risk
How would recalled applesauce pouches get contaminated with lead?
The FDA is focusing on lead-contaminated cinnamon being potentially added as an “economically motivated adulteration,” NBC News reported.
Food makers may use "economically motivated adulteration" or EMA, by substituting an ingredient "to make it appear better or of greater value," according to the FDA. But the agency also says that such actions may be food fraud and result in "lead poisoning from adulterated spices and allergic reactions to a hidden, substituted ingredient that contains even just one food allergen."
The FDA has been inspecting the Austrofoods facility in Ecuador, where the WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches, Schnucks cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches and variety packs, and Weis cinnamon applesauce pouches were produced.
The agency is working with officials in Ecuador in its investigation of the cinnamon. The spice, supplied to Austrofoods by Ecuador-based Negasmart, had higher levels of lead than allowed by Ecuador and the company is "currently under an Ecuadorian administrative sanctions process to determine the responsible party for the contamination," the FDA said Dec. 5.
The FDA's Jones told Politico that manufacturers likely "didn’t think this product was going to end up in a country with a robust regulatory process."
How many have been affected in the applesauce product recall?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has received 125 reports of cases in 22 states in its tracking of the cinnamon applesauce lead poisoning outbreak. Of those cases:
- 46 are confirmed
- 68 are probable
- 11 cases are suspect.
To be included in those numbers, the person must have high blood levels within three months of eating one of the products after November 2022. (The CDC and FDA can have different case numbers because they gather data differently.)
The FDA has said that consumers should not eat or buy the WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches, which are sold nationally through Amazon, Dollar Tree, and other online stores, the Schnucks-brand cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches and variety pack, and Weis-brand cinnamon applesauce pouches.
Contributing: Saleen Martin
Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.
What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day
veryGood! (42471)
Related
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- Leandro De Niro Rodriguez's cause of death revealed as accidental drug overdose, reports say
- Bachelor Nation's Kaitlyn Bristowe Opens Up About Her Grief After Jason Tartick Breakup
- Shakespeare and penguin book get caught in Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' laws
- Olympic disqualification of gold medal hopeful exposes 'dark side' of women's wrestling
- NCAA denies hardship waiver for Florida State's Darrell Jackson, who transferred for ailing mom
- DJ Casper, Chicago disc jockey and creator of ‘Cha Cha Slide,’ dies after battle with cancer
- Richard Sherman to join Skip Bayless on 'Undisputed,' per report
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- Inside Pennsylvania’s Monitoring of the Shell Petrochemical Complex
Ranking
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- Texas man on trip to spread father’s ashes dies of heat stroke in Utah’s Arches National Park
- Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith says he’ll retire in July 2024
- Pence is heading to the debate stage, SCOTUS backs Biden on 'ghost guns': 5 Things podcast
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- The Art of Wealth Architect: Inside John Anderson's Fundamental Analysis Approach
- Rachel Morin Confirmed Dead as Authorities Reveal They Have No Solid Suspect
- Loss of smell or taste was once a telltale sign of COVID. Not anymore.
Recommendation
Paris Olympics live updates: Quincy Hall wins 400m thriller; USA women's hoops in action
3-month-old baby dies after being left in hot car outside Houston medical center
Abortion rights to be decided at the ballot box after Ohio voters reject Issue 1
Gisele Bündchen Reacts to Tom Brady's Message About His Incredible Birthday Trip to Africa
NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
Cause of death revealed for Robert De Niro's grandson Leandro
Idaho man charged with shooting rifle at two hydroelectric power stations
Lawsuit challenges Alabama’s ‘de facto ban’ on freestanding birth centers