FDA: Ground cinnamon sold at discount stores tainted with lead

WASHINGTON — Elevated levels of lead have been discovered in six brands of ground cinnamon sold at discount stores nationwide, federal officials said Wednesday.

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In a news release, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration is advising consumers to throw away the ground cinnamon under the brand names of La Fiesta, Marcum, MK, Swad, Supreme Tradition and El Chilar.

The products are sold at Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, Save A Lot and Patel Brothers stores, the FDA said.

The agency has asked the companies to issue voluntary recalls, The Washington Post reported.

“Removing the ground cinnamon products in this alert from the market will prevent them from contributing elevated amounts of lead to the diets of children,” the FDA’s alert said. “Long-term exposure (months to years) to elevated levels of lead in the diet could contribute to adverse health effects, particularly for the portion of the population that may already have elevated blood lead levels from other exposures to lead.”

Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores have already removed the cinnamon from their store shelves, a company spokesperson told The Associated Press. Customers can return products to stores for a refund, the FDA said.

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