US FDA Expands Fruit Pouches Recall Due to Illnesses Linked to Lead in 5 States

Fruit pouches for kids are being recalled in some areas in the United States due to suspected lead contamination. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration already issued an alert last week but the officials decided to expand the recall to include more states to the list.

Federal health officials in the country are extending their investigation for the possible presence of lead in pouches of apple cinnamon fruit puree that are being sold in the market for children. The new recall notice was posted as more illnesses were reported. This prompted the U.S. FDA to add more product recalls.

New Illnesses Reported from Five States

According to Associated Press News, the FDA said it received new reports of seven illnesses in at least five states and these could be connected to the contaminated fruit puree. With this development, two new companies have also announced recalls for some cinnamon applesauce products as they may have high levels of lead as well. The added stores are Schnucks Markets of St. Louis and Weis Markets of Sunbury, Pennsylvania.

Before this, the WanaBana brand of Coral Gables, Florida recalled all the fruit pouches of its apple cinnamon fruit puree. Regardless of the lot and expiration dates, all the products under the brand were called back. These were sold across the U.S. via major retailers such as Amazon, Sam’s Club, and Dollar Tree.

Main Purpose of the FDA Alert

In the previous FDA Announcement, parents were advised to stop buying or feeding their kids WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree. The health authority said these may contain elevated levels of lead. Parents were also instructed to bring their young kids to clinics for blood tests to ensure they did not ingest the toxic substance.

The FDA is continuously working with state officials and companies to gather more information so they can take the right measures to take out all the contaminated fruit purees and other products from the market. Meanwhile, the FDA emphasized that lead is toxic even for adults and children are especially at risk of its harmful effects.

Photo by: US FDA Website