Elected officials typically file charges before evidence is found, and officials are free to provide background on food safety issues.
But with lead poisoning from applesauce pouches marketed to children, their roles appear to have been swapped. Jim Jones, FDA’s deputy chief of human foods, raised the possibility that the applesauce packaging was “intentionally contaminated with lead.”
Jones said that while the FDA’s investigation continues, “all the signals we’re getting point to intentional actions by someone in the supply chain.” That particular supply chain traces back to Ecuador.
Meanwhile, a three-page letter from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf raises broader questions about applesauce contamination, including possible involvement of China. are doing.
Higher than normal lead levels (about 500 times the acceptable level for lead) have been detected in more than 60 children under the age of 6 in the United States. The spike in lead levels occurred after children were given pouches of applesauce sold under one of three brands. Weiss, Wannabana, Schnucks. All three products were subject to a recall.
All produced in our Ecuadorian facility.
Sen. Scott is asking the FDA to consider China because it is a major producer of cinnamon, which can cause lead poisoning. The Florida Republican said supply chains are more global now than they were before the pandemic.
Scott said the FDA’s safety alert went into effect on October 28, 2023, and now requires “swift and decisive” action. He said there were indications that Ecuador’s suppliers “may have been purchasing cinnamon from Asian countries such as communist China.”
Scott writes: “High levels of lead and heavy metals found in spices such as cinnamon are typically due to either high levels in the soil in which the product is grown, potential contamination within the supply chain during processing, or economically motivated adulteration. It is the same as adding lead chromate to increase the weight of a product.”
The senator said the high lead levels could be “a possible sign of economic fraud.”
Officially, the FDA is investigating several theories about how the high levels of lead may have arisen.The FDA reportedly has little authority over foreign ingredients that are not shipped directly to the U.S.
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