Monday, October 30, 2017

Caution should be taken with candy imported to the USA



Nearly everyone enjoys some candy now and than. However, tooth decay, too many calories, and diabetes are not the only risk factors associated with eating candy. The University of California San Fransisco has reported that in California imported candy is at the top of the contaminated food list.

There have been more health alerts issued by the California Department of Public Health for lead found in candy than for E. coli, botulism and salmonella.  In recent years 42 percent of the food contamination alerts which have been issued by California state health officials were for lead in candy. Just about all of this candy was imported.

Lead is a toxic heavy metal which can cause delays in development, neurological damage, hearing loss, and other very serious health problems in young kids and adults. In California about 100,000 California kids below the age of six are poisoned with lead every year. About 1000 of these kids are exposed to extremely high levels of lead.

Most initiatives to lower exposure to lead have focused on the lead which is found in gasoline and industrially contaminated soil, and lead-based paint. Children often take in lead when they eat contaminated paint chips and when they breathe in dust.
The contaminated candy in California has been mostly from Mexico (34 percent), China (24 percent), and India (20 percent). Lead contamination has also been found in candy from Taiwan, the United States, Pakistan, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Germany, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, and Spain.

The California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch (FDB) has been charged with the implementation of Assembly Bill 121, which has a goal of preventing the sale of adulterated candy to infants, young kids, and pregnant women.  The Lead in Candy Program collects and tests candy samples. When adulterated candies are identified there are appropriate notifications made to local environmental health directors and the public and there is enforcement action. 

The finding of a particularly high rate of lead contamination in imported candy in California should help to raise awareness of this serious problem. Lead intoxication of children and adults is a very serious problem. Aggressive efforts to inform the public about this problem and to get contaminated candy off the market are necessary.