Study of 70 Household Spices Found Lead in Every Sample

Australia has no limits for heavy metals in herbs and spices, and thus does not test imported herbs and spices for their toxicity. Shutterstock

An Australian study of 12 different brands of popular dried herbs and spices stocked on supermarket shelves revealed that all samples had traces of heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, antimony, cadmium, and mercury.

A 2021 U.S. consumer data advocate’s analysis of 126 herbs and spices discovered that roughly one-third of the tested products had significant levels of toxic heavy metals.

The U.S. spices had “high enough levels of arsenic, lead, and cadmium combined to pose a health concern for children when regularly consumed in typical serving sizes,” with most raising concern for adults as well.

Australian counterpart Choice undertook similar independent testing to see if Australian consumers were being exposed to the same issues.

Seventy samples from 12 of the most popular brands of basil, cumin, ground ginger, oregano, paprika, thyme, and turmeric available in major supermarkets were tested in a National Association of Testing Authorities accredited lab.

All samples were found to contain traces of lead, and 86 percent had traces of arsenic.

Lead is not a substance that should be consumed by humans as it can be harmful to the human body, and there is no ‘safe’ level of lead exposure, according to the Australian health department.

Lead, cadmium, and mercury can also cause health problems because they accumulate in the body, so consuming even small amounts may cause damage.

The herbs and spices found in the study to have lower amounts of lead and arsenic were cumin, basil, and paprika. Jessie Zhang/Epoch Times

Ayanka Wijayawardena, a heavy metals researcher at the University of Newcastle, said that the danger of heavy metals to consumers depends on a number of factors, including how much spices you eat, how often you consume them, and how much gets absorbed by the body.

“Spices are utilised in very minute quantities in daily life. If we calculate daily or weekly intake, I assume those metal ingestions might be within safe limits,” Wijayawardena said.

“Having said that, we cannot completely deny any health risk at this stage as even in small quantities, the body mass index of the person exposed could also dictate the effects as well.”

In Australia, the Department of Agriculture receives the imports, and then the Australian food regulatory body Food Standards Australia & New Zealand (FSANZ) writes the code of standards and requirements the product must comply with.

However, it’s up to the local and state government to ensure that what’s in each state’s supermarket are compliant with those standards.

No Limits or Testing for Toxic Heavy Metals

Currently, Australia has no limits on heavy metals in herbs and spices to guarantee product safety to consumers.

“Previous exposure estimates undertaken by FSANZ have shown that herbs and spices are not considered significant contributors to dietary exposure to metal contaminants,” a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture told the Epoch Times.

“As there are no specific limits for heavy metals in herbs and spices in the Code, the department does not test imported herbs and spices for heavy metals.”

“However, food importers are responsible for sourcing safe and compliant food and should seek assurances from suppliers that contaminants, such as heavy metals, are not present in harmful levels.”

FSANZ only states that “food must be safe and suitable for human consumption and therefore metal contamination levels should be kept as low as reasonably achievable.”

Reducing Heavy Metals Exposure

The first course of action is to choose your spices carefully.

The products containing the least amount of total heavy metals in their category of the test were Spice & Co and G-Fresh Ground Ginger, Masterfoods Cumin, Aldi’s Stonemill Basil, and Coles Paprika.

Other herbs and spices that were less likely to contain concerning levels of heavy metals include pepper (black or white), garlic powder, coriander, curry powder, saffron, and sesame seeds.

But the safest way is still to grow your own food with organic matter, which will not only reduce unsafe exposure to metals but is also likely to bring physical, biological and nutritive benefits.

The Center for Agriculture, Food, and Environment at the University of Massachusetts has recommendations for growing safer produce in your garden by reducing lead exposure:

• Locate gardens away from old painted structures and heavily travelled roads.
• Grow crops that flower above the ground instead of underground or on the ground, such as tomatoes, peas, and corn.
• Give planting preferences to fruiting crops (tomatoes, squash, peas, sunflowers, corn, etc.).
• Incorporate organic materials such as high-quality compost, humus, and peat moss.
• Wash hands immediately after gardening and prior to eating.
• Discard outer leaves before eating leafy vegetables. Peel root crops. Wash all produce thoroughly.
• Protect the garden from airborne particulates using a fence or hedge. Fine dust has the highest lead concentration.
• Keep dust in the garden to a minimum by maintaining a well-mulched, vegetated, and/or moist soil surface.

Those with brown thumbs can regularly clean their indoor environments to remove household dust and prevent lead from entering the body through the mouth.