Consumer Alert Issued After FDA Recalls Cinnamon for Possible Lead Contamination

In March, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled ground cinnamon after a possible lead contamination was found.

The federal food safety organization revealed that on March 6, 2024, a safety alert was issued, advising consumers not to buy or eat certain ground cinnamon products, as samples of these products were found to contain elevated levels of lead. 

The FDA specifically recalled six brands: La Fiesta Food Products, Moran Foods, MTCI, Raja Foods, Greenbriar International Inc., and El Chilar. The agency advised consumers to stop using these products and either dispose of them or return them to the point of purchase.

Now, nearly three months later, the New York State Department of Agriculture has issued a warning regarding another brand of cinnamon: Badia Spices.

According to the Daily Mail, consumers have also been alerted not to eat ground ginger products from this brand. Both products were found to contain “unsafe levels of lead — more than 1-part per million,” per analysis by New York State Food Laboratory. So far, no illnesses have been reported.

Officials are advising consumers nationwide to inspect their kitchens for these spices and to dispose of them immediately if discovered.

Per the Daily Mail, “Contaminated batches include Badia Ground Ginger, sold in 1.5-ounce clear plastic bottles with black plastic caps with UPC Code #033844002237 and Lot # 307922,” and “Badia Ground Cinnamon, sold in 2-ounce clear plastic bottles with black plastic caps with UPC Code #033844000158 and Lot #’s 305481 and 309528.”

In March, Conrad Choiniere, Ph.D., Acting Deputy Center Director for Regulatory Affairs within FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), stated that the FDA did not know how the cinnamon products became contaminated with lead. He stated, “Lead can enter the food supply from the environment where foods are grown, raised, or processed.”

His statement continued, “Levels of lead in the environment can vary depending on differences in geography and proximity to current or past uses of products made with lead. However, lead can also enter food through processing and manufacturing, such as through the use of non-food-grade equipment containing lead. The FDA will be working with the firms to further investigate how these products became contaminated.”

ConsumerAffairs reported that the FDA subsequently sent a letter to all cinnamon manufacturers, processors, distributors, and facility operators in the U.S. There, they shared the controls necessary to prevent contamination from further potential chemical hazards in ground cinnamon products. 

This recall follows CNN‘s report in February that a cinnamon processor was the likely source of lead contamination in applesauce products linked to hundreds of illnesses among children in the U.S.