FDA Warns of High Lead Content in Cinnamon

SILVER SPRING, MD — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking several additional steps to address concerns about elevated lead levels in cinnamon following the recent incident associated with certain cinnamon apple sauce pouches that resulted in lead poisoning in young children. Today, the agency sent a letter to all cinnamon manufacturers, processors, distributors and facility operators in the U.S., reminding them of the requirement to implement controls to prevent contamination from potential chemical hazards in food, including ground cinnamon products. The agency is also recommending the voluntary recall of certain ground cinnamon products sold by a number of brands at six different retail chains that were found to contain elevated levels of lead.

The agency notified the distributors and manufacturers of products found to contain elevated levels of lead and recommended that the manufacturers voluntarily recall these products because prolonged exposure to them may be unsafe. The products were identified during an FDA-initiated sampling and testing effort to assess cinnamon sold across numerous retail stores. No illnesses or adverse events have been reported to date related to the ground cinnamon products listed below, but the FDA is concerned that, because of the elevated lead levels in these products, continued and prolonged use of the products may be unsafe.

The FDA is advising consumers to throw away and not to buy the ground cinnamon products with the lot codes listed below because samples of these products were found to contain elevated levels of lead. Consumers can find lot codes listed on the product’s label. The FDA is working with the firms listed below to voluntarily recall the products, with the exception of the MTCI cinnamon. The FDA has been unable to reach MTCI to share its findings and request that the company initiate a recall. The FDA will update its Safety Alert with new information as it becomes available.

It is important to note that the lead levels found in the ground cinnamon products listed above are significantly lower than lead levels in cinnamon in the recalled apple sauce pouches removed from the market this past fall. The products currently recommended for recall contain lead levels ranging from 2.03 to 3.4 parts per million (ppm) lead. The levels of lead in the ground cinnamon recommended for recall is approximately 2,000 ppm to nearly 5,000 ppm lower than the levels of lead associated with the cinnamon in recalled apple puree and apple sauce products. Therefore, these ground cinnamon products do not pose the same level of risk to human health as the apple sauce pouches but could be unsafe for prolonged use.

“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,” said Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones. “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.”