FDA warns producer about lead levels in its apple cinnamon puree products

Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning letter to the maker of a popular brand of apple cinnamon fruit puree products found on U.S. grocery store shelves, the FDA announced Thursday.

The puree pouches manufactured by Austrofood S.A.S. were recalled last year when they were found to contain elevated levels of lead and chromium. The FDA determined that they remain unsafe, a finding that prompted the letter to the Ecuadorean company.

"[L] laboratory analysis of multiple lots of your apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches detected extremely high concentrations of lead," the letter, addressed to Quito-based Austrofood S.A.S. president Francisco Jose Peña Cordovez, said.

The findings were part of a multi-state investigation, which included the FDA, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, the Maryland Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Despite the recall of 39 cases of the product by a U.S.-based distributor of Austrofood, investigators have still found dangerous levels of lead in the purees on store shelves.

The puree pouches, manufactured in Ecuador, violated the FDA's Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act because they contained poisonous substances, the letter said.

Sending the foods to the United States violated another portion of the FD&C Act under an interstate commerce clause. Investigators traced the high concentrations of lead in the puree to the ground cinnamon the company is using to make it.

"Austrofood used cinnamon powder as an ingredient in the apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches, a product intended for young children, including infants as young as six months old. Lead is often found in spices, including cinnamon, from the environment where it is grown or processed, and oral exposure to elevated levels of lead can pose health risks to humans, especially babies and young children," the warning letter said.

The FDA gave Austrofood 15 days to respond to the letter, detailing the steps it is taking to be sure that its products are no longer dangerous.