FDA recommends recall of certain ground cinnamon products due to elevated lead levels

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended the voluntary recall of ground cinnamon products sold by several brands at six different retail chains. The products were found to contain elevated lead levels.

The agency also reminded all US cinnamon manufacturers, processors, distributors and facility operators in a letter sent Wednesday of the requirement to enforce controls to avoid contamination of food, including ground cinnamon products, by potential chemical hazards.

The ground cinnamon products, whose manufacturers and distributors were notified by the FDA with the recommendation that the manufacturers voluntarily recall them “because prolonged exposure to them may be unsafe,” were identified following an agency-initiated sampling and testing effort. Cinnamon sold across many retail stores were assessed during the campaign.

No adverse events or illnesses have been reported to date related to the products.

The distributors of the ground cinnamon products in question are

• La Fiesta Food Products – La Miranda, CA

• Marcum, Moran Foods, LLC – Saint Ann, MO

• MTCI – Santa Fe Springs, CA

• SWAD, Raja Foods LLC – Skokie, IL

• Supreme Tradition, Greenbriar International, Inc. – Chesapeake, VA

• El Chilar – Apopka, FL

This past fall, certain cinnamon apple sauce pouches that caused lead poisoning in young children were removed from the market. The FDA notes that the ground cinnamon product lead levels are significantly lower than the pouch lead levels.

Jim Jones, the deputy commissioner for Human Foods, said in a press release, “Today’s actions serve as a signal to industry that more needs to be done to prevent elevated levels of contaminants from entering our food supply.”

He added, “Food growers, manufacturers, importers and retailers share a responsibility for ensuring the safety of the foods that reach store shelves. The levels of lead we found in some ground cinnamon products are too high and we must do better to protect those most vulnerable to the negative health outcomes of exposure to elevated levels of lead.”

At the time of this writing, the following companies have announced the voluntary recall as recommended by the FDA

• Raja Foods LLC

• El Chilar Rodriguez LLC

• Colonna Brothers, Inc. (Marcum and Supreme Tradition ground cinnamon)

Featured image is by ulleo at Pixabay and is under the Pixabay Content License.

Photo editing by SN Digital