Re:Toxic toddler fruit pouches: "high" lead levels sicken 7 ...
by throwaway-jim on Tuesday November 07, 2023 @08:57AM
(#38176738)
not sure about raw cinnamon but i've taken a bite of the cooked version and it was distinctly sweet every time.
Re:Toxic toddler fruit pouches: "high" lead levels sicken 7 ...
by flutas on Tuesday November 07, 2023 @09:25AM
(#38177068)
My only thought is maybe ceylon ("true") cinnamon vs cassia cinnamon.
Ceylon is supposed to be sweeter, but cassia is the most commonly sold form in the US.
Could just be a difference in exposure to types of what flavor you expect/experience.
Re:Toxic toddler fruit pouches: "high" lead levels sicken 7 ...
by digitallis42 on Tuesday November 07, 2023 @09:11AM
(#38176895)
Lead salt is (unethically) compelling in cinnamon to make it more vibrantly colored. It's not being added as a sweetener, assuming it's being adulterated at all. The less unethical, but still harmful possibility is that leaded gas powered machinery is being used in/near the processing of this cinnamon and the exhaust particulate is contaminating the product. There have been cases of tea leaves being contaminated this way as they were driving a leaded gas powered truck back and forth over the leaves to help dry them with the wind.
Guanabana is quite sweet on its own. Certainly enough for kids. It's got a slight tang, but there's plenty of sugar.
Re:Toxic toddler fruit pouches: "high" lead levels sicken 7 ...
by ta988 on Tuesday November 07, 2023 @09:18AM
(#38176978)
Guanabana is an Annonaceae also called soursop. It is really good but it could also a dangerous thing to eat every day due to its annonacin (and related) content that can lead to neurotoxicity.
But cinnamon is a flavouring agent, making up a small proportion of the pouch products. Lead salts taste sweet; cinnamon isn't supposed to taste sweet on its own. So I have to wonder how much lead was in these cinnamon "raw material"? This isn't the usual long-term lead poisoning you get from lead water-pipes; this was acute poisoning.
It seems to me more likely that Austrofood was using apples that weren't sweet enough, so somewhere in the supply chain some bozo added lead salts. People expect apples to be sweet, but not cinnamon.
Austrofood appears to be an Ecuadorian company:
https://advanceglobalcap.com/astrofood-a-sustainable-busines...
It's Austrofood that makes these products, and bags them up in pouches. They started selling into the US market in 2019.