The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an alert to parents, warning them not to buy a brand of fruit puree pouches for children after the snacks were found to have high levels of lead, while recommending youngsters who did consume the potentially contaminated fruit puree to get their blood tested for toxicity.
The FDA said that lead was found in WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches, which are sold across the country at various retailers, including Amazon, Dollar Tree, and Sam’s Club.
“Parents and caregivers of toddlers and young children who may have consumed WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches should contact their child’s healthcare provider about getting a blood test,” the FDA said in a statement.
Lead is toxic to humans, and exposure to the substance can lead to developmental delays in children. Symptoms of lead exposure include headaches, abdominal pain, vomiting, anemia, muscle aches, irritability, and fatigue, the agency said.
A child under 6 with two consecutive blood lead test results of 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dl) or higher qualifies for a home investigation by the North Carolina health agency and local health departments to find the lead source.
“It was during several such investigations that the WanaBana brand of apple cinnamon puree pouches was identified as the likely source of lead hazard,” the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) said in a statement.
North Carolina health authorities said that multiple lots of WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree were analyzed, and officials found “extremely high concentrations of lead.”
“The FDA has reviewed and supports NCDHHS’ findings and issued a voluntary recall of all WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches regardless of lot code or expiration,” NCDHHS said.
Parents with WanaBana brand apple cinnamon puree products in their homes should dispose of them immediately, and under no circumstances should they eat them or feed them to their children, the agency said.
It also urged parents to discuss blood lead testing with their medical provider if they’re concerned about their child, with the NCDHHS recommending that all children get tested for lead during their well-child visit at age 1 and again at age 2, a time in a child’s development when hand-to-mouth behavior is highest.
Lead Dust in Focus
Exposure of children to lead is in the crosshairs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which on July 11 announced new proposed rules for lead paint in a bid to prevent hundreds of thousands of youngsters from being exposed to the toxic substance.Officials predict that the rule will reduce lead exposures for 250,000 to 500,000 children younger than the age of 6 each year, the agency said in a statement. The mandate would enhance the EPA’s regulations under section 402 of the Toxic Substances Control Act, which would revise the standards for how much lead dust can be on floors, window sills, and other locations in older buildings.
According to the EPA, the rule would reduce the “dust-lead hazard standards” to 3 micrograms per square foot from 10 micrograms per square foot for floors and to 20 micrograms per square foot from 100 micrograms per square foot for window sills “to any reportable level greater than zero in recognition of the fact that there is no level of lead in dust that has been found to be safe for children.” For window troughs, the lead dust levels would be lowered to 25 micrograms per square foot from 400 micrograms under the rule.
The federal government banned lead-based paints in 1978, but it’s estimated that 31 million pre-1978 homes still have them. And 3.8 million of those homes have a child younger than the age of 6 living there, according to the EPA.
“Lead exposure can pose a significant health and safety threat to children and can cause irreversible and life-long health effects, including behavioral problems, lower IQ, slowed growth and more,” the EPA statement reads. “Young children are particularly at risk of higher exposure to ingesting lead-containing dust.”
