The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said cinnamon sold by stores including the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar contains lead at levels that could be unsafe for people, particularly children, with prolonged exposure to the spice. The agency urged suppliers to recall the products voluntarily.
Cinnamon products included in the agency’s safety alert include the La Fiesta brand sold by La Superior and SuperMercados; Marcum brand sold by Save A Lot stores; MK brands sold by SF Supermarket; Swad brand sold by Patel Brothers; El Chilar brand sold by La Joya Morelense; and Supreme Tradition brand sold by Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores.
My understanding from the apple sauce pouch issue that uncovered the source to be cinnamon, is that most of these spices are grown/processed outside the US, and $ is based on weight. So what is an easy way to tip the scales cheaply, lead. 😩
EDIT - here is the FDA write up about it.
Ah lead chromate. So it isn’t just to increase weight, it’s a colorant. Has a bright orange/yellow color to it. Classic school bus paint.
Ugh, people are awful
As I understand it a lot of countries have a surprising amount of heavy metals in their soil, unfortunately.
That page says it’s from environmental contamination, not lead doping. I think you’d have to have a huge amount of lead for it to be measurable in product weight.