Ground cinnamon sold at Dollar Tree, Family Dollar tainted with lead, FDA warns

Ground cinnamon sold by discount retailers including the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar may be contaminated with high levels of lead and should be thrown out, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said Wednesday.

Supreme Tradition brand ground cinnamon, sold in those retail chains, is among a group of cinnamon products found to have levels that may be unsafe for people — particularly children — with prolonged exposure, according to the federal agency.

High levels of exposure to lead in utero, infancy and early childhood can lead to neurological effects such brain damage, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. The effects also can include slowed development, learning issues, behavior problems and hearing and speech deficiencies.

The very young are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of lead exposure because of their smaller body sizes and rapid metabolism and growth, according to the CDC.

The discovery of the contaminated products is the result of what FDA officials called a “targeted survey” of cinnamon products sold in discount stores after lead-tainted cinnamon applesauce pouches sickened nearly 500 U.S. children last October.

Time magazine and other news outlets report that Dollar Tree and Family Dollar have removed the cinnamon from their store shelves.

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