Lead-laced spices are a danger

Posted Apr 20, 2009 by Mary Shedden

Updated Apr 20, 2009 at 12:27 PM

Food spices tainted with toxic lead won’t be showing up anytime soon at the local grocer, but it serves as an important reminder how dangerous this metal can be.

All parents are familiar with the rash of toy recalls over the last few years. Cheaply made toys built with lead or decorated with lead-based paints were yanked from store shelves in an effort to prevent poisoning. A little child who put the toy in their mouth or had the lead rub off onto their hands was at risk of being poisoned.

Cynthia Keeton, the Hillsborough County Health Department’s lead safety expert, just alerted me to a 2005 study in the journal Pediatrics that found dangerous levels of lead in spices several families purchased overseas in Georgia, and in India. The families brought the spices home and cooked with them, leading to lead poisoning in small children in both families.

Why should we worry about these isolated incidents? We’re not at any danger, right?

I’d argue that parents need to be diligent in paying attention to any product their child may be exposed to, especially food. Keeton tells me she regularly discovers children poisoned by lead in unlikely places, such as candy from overseas or medicinal powders popular with the migrant communities in east Hillsborough County.

Watching out for your kids is not easy, but it’s easy to take safety for granted.