4 ms·
How does lead even get into applesauce?
by Loughla 3y ago
How does lead even get into applesauce?
- ljlolel 3y agoLead can get into food if someone in the supply chain is trying to cheaply weigh down a product to make it feel heavier as if it has more food than it does. See lead in wine controversies.
- adhesive_wombat 3y agoYou would have to put a lot of lead in food to make an appreciable difference in mass. Lead in wine, as I understand it, is about sweetness and preservation, not density.
- siftrics 3y agoYes and the most well-known historical cases involved diethylene glycol, not lead. But lead is used, too.
- adhesive_wombat 3y agoI really do not think anyone is adding lead to food to increase the weight when you could use any metal compound with a roughly similar density like iron oxide (which even has an E-number) and thereby not obviously poison anyone for the sake a few grams and get yourself discovered immediately. And if you wanted to weigh down the container, lead costs more then iron per kg: just make the existing iron-based can thicker.
- spicyusername 3y agoHow does the apple sauce get into the pouch?
- HumblyTossed 3y agoStainless steel equipment?
- KnuthIsGod 3y agoSaucy fairies with very tiny spoons fill the sachets.
- HumblyTossed 3y ago> Saucy fairies... snort
- CoastalCoder 3y agoReminds me of that scene in Scrooged, where the fairy says, "You know I like the rough stuff." Still makes me chuckle after all this time.
- dubcanada 3y agoLead pipes obviously, don't be silly it's a valid question. The method of injecting apple sauce into pouches is not via anything lead.
- semiquaver 3y ago> In its recall notice, Schnucks reported its supplier, Purcell International, notified it that "elevated levels of lead found in the cinnamon raw material used by Austrofood SAS, the manufacturer of the applesauce cinnamon pouches."
- CarVac 3y agoSpice contamination is a scary notion. How do you check every spice in every food you buy?
- darkerside 3y agoYou don't. This is why we have an FDA.
- HumblyTossed 3y agoFor now...
- perihelions 3y agoCheck Consumer Reports. They test for, and report, heavy metal content in spices. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/your-herbs-and-spices-might-contain-arsenic-cadmium-and-lead-a6246621494/ https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/your-herb... Most manufacturers don't (as per the above link). The FDA doesn't.
- Dove 3y agoI would expect factories to do batch testing as part of internal quality control. In fact, I know they do, with a lot of products, for a lot of problems. I wonder what went wrong here.
- perihelions 3y ago- "I would expect factories to do batch testing as part of internal quality control" They generally do not! - "The lack of regulation leaves much of the monitoring of heavy metal levels to companies. [Consumer Reports] contacted all the ones with products in our tests to see how they limited heavy metals." - "Of the companies that replied to our questions—Al Wadi Al Akhdar, Costco, Bolner’s Fiesta, Gebhardt, Litehouse, McCormick, Roland Foods, Spice Islands, Target, and Whole Foods—a few said they require their suppliers to have a program for controlling or testing for heavy metals. But only three—Al Wadi Al Akhdar, Bolner’s Fiesta, and McCormick—specifically said they test products in their manufacturing plants for heavy metals." https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/your-herbs-and-spices-might-contain-arsenic-cadmium-and-lead-a6246621494/ https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/your-herb...
- Maxion 3y agoIndia and Bangladesh (at least) have a history of adultering spices: https://stanmed.stanford.edu/turmeric-lead-risk-detect/ https://stanmed.stanford.edu/turmeric-lead-risk-detect/ https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/24/dangerous-spices-why-indias-cooking-powders-pose-a-risk-of-lead-poisoning https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/24/d...
- jquery 3y ago>Over a three-month period, Mazumdar tested some of the country’s most popular spices – chilli, cumin, curry powder, garam masala and chat masala. She tested 52 samples of turmeric, assessing branded and packaged varieties, as well as loose powders sold by street vendors in Kolkata. >She found lead in all of them. >The cause, she found, was food colouring contaminated with compounds of lead. Lead chromate was added to the turmeric to brighten its golden colour and lead oxide gave the chilli powders a rich red hue.
- meindnoch 3y agoIt's one thing to add food coloring to improve the product's appearance. What boggles the mind is how there isn't anyone in the production facility who would raise the issue of lead being not the greatest food additive. I mean, these people are likely poisoning their own kids too. Are they this uneducated?
- Anotheroneagain 3y agoI suppose that muslims reject it because muhammad used galena powder as a medicine. It might be an excuse, though. Their heavy metal content is likely why people started using spices in the first place. They can't taste good without them. Nothing can. We evolved to detect their presence, and like their taste.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- CommanderData 3y ago