On March 6, FDA 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 also notified the distributors and manufacturers of six specific 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, and include La Fiesta Food Products, Marcum Moran Foods, MTCI, SWAD Raja Foods, Supreme Tradition Grenbriar International, and El Chilar.
No illnesses or adverse events have been reported to date related to these specific ground cinnamon products, but the agency is concerned that, due to the elevated lead levels in these products, continued and prolonged use of the products may be unsafe.
FDA is advising consumers to throw away and to not purchase the identified ground cinnamon products and it firms to voluntarily recall the products, with the exception of the MTCI cinnamon, which the agency has been unable to reach as of March 6.
Additionally, the agency says the lead levels found in the ground cinnamon products included in this latest alert are significantly lower than the levels in cinnamon in the recalled applesauce pouches removed from the market this past fall.
See the FDA website for the full list of lot codes impacted by this latest effort.
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