FDA issues a new alert about lead contamination in ground cinnamon

The Food and Drug Administration said in a new alert Thursday that it has identified an additional cinnamon product sold in the U.S. that has been contaminated with lead.

The ground cinnamon, sold as El Servidor and distributed by an Elmhurst, New York, company of the same name, joins a growing list of cinnamon products identified by the FDA to contain high levels of lead.

Through testing, the cinnamon was found to have elevated lead levels at 20 parts per million. While the FDA does not have limits for lead levels in spices, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization has a proposed international safety standard of 2.5 parts per million of lead for bark spices like cinnamon.

The FDA asked the distributor to voluntarily recall the product.

In March, the FDA warned about lead in cinnamon sold at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar and other stores. Those products had levels of lead ranging from 2.03 to 3.4 parts per million.

One sample of cinnamon used in the previously recalled WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree was found to have 5,110 parts per million of lead.

The cinnamon identified in the new alert was sold at a supermarket in New York City, although it's unclear whether it was distributed more widely. The FDA didn't respond to a request for comment.

Leigh Frame, director of integrative medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, called the new recall "alarming."

"We sort of assume things are safe until proven otherwise," Frame said. "It’s not until people get sick do we actually have these recalls. Often it’s too late; people have already consumed the products."

In a perfect world, she added, the FDA would be able to get ahead of recalls by testing food products for dangerous contaminants before people get exposed.

"It's a little scary to think about all the things that potentially could be lurking in our food system because we don't have the resources," Frame said.

No illnesses were reported in the FDA warning. The agency advised consumers to stop using the product and throw it away.

Lead is toxic, especially for children

Elevated levels of lead can be extremely toxic to the body, particularly for young children, who are more at risk because of their smaller body size and the fact that they are still growing. High levels of lead exposure in this age group can cause long-term neurologic and developmental problems such as learning disabilities and lowered IQ.

Frame doesn't think consumers should completely cut out cinnamon, but recommends limiting exposure, particularly for young kids.

“If you have cinnamon oatmeal every morning, maybe switch to a different variety for a while until we figure things out, just to reduce the exposure,” she said.

Symptoms of lead exposure may include:

• Headache

• Abdominal pain

• Fatigue