Lead in Candy – Seriously????

Okay, this is something that’s near and dear to the founder’s of bluedominoes’ hearts.  We eat healthy and take care of ourselves, but chocolate is our weak spot.  So, after looking at the FDA’s Total Diet Study and reviewing the Orange County (OC) Register of lead in candy, we were surprised to learn that the lead-tainted candy went beyond Mexican candy that is commonly reported.  Some of the candy on the OC Register was made in Argentina, Philippines, Malaysia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

Where has Lead Tainted Candy been found?

According to the FDA’s Total Diet Study, measurable levels of lead were found in chocolate and in a good portion of the samples they tested.  In fact, in plain milk chocolate bars, 43 out of 52 bars tested as having lead.  To read more about the Total Diet Study, click here.  

In 2006, the FDA lowered the acceptable limit for lead in candy from .5 ppm to .1 ppm[i]. The FDA moved to lower the limits because they felt the lower amount was achievable under good manufacturing practices and because candy is likely to be consumed frequently by small children. 

In May of 2008, ABC News in Washington D.C. sent a reporter shopping and he purchased candy as well as dried fruit and submitted them to a lab to identify the lead content in these items. They discovered that the mandarin peel and other dried fruit contained seven times the recommended limit of lead.  The dried plum was four times the limit and the toffee they purchased had five times the recommended limit.  The fruit was from China and the toffee was from El Salvador[ii][iii].  They also found wrappers that contained 34,000 times the recommended FDA limit for lead.  This is important because lead can leach into candy from either the manufacturing process or from the wrapper surrounding the candy.

CBS in Arizona performed a similar exercise and found that the candies they tested all fell under the FDA acceptable limit.  They noted this did not mean the candies were safe to eat since there are variations in the manufacturing process, one batch can have higher levels of lead than others[iv].  In addition, the OC Register found that some Mexican candy companies make two versions of the same product; one that uses more expensive ingredients and methods that is intended to meet the United States' standards, and a second, cheaper version that is supposed to be sold only in Mexico. But sometimes, formulations intended to be sold only in Mexico, make it over the border[v].

The CBS reporters noted that the candy banned for exceeding lead level in California were still for sale on store shelves at traditional retailers in Arizona.  Some private schools took the initiative of banning the candies from their school and sending home letters letting parents know of the excess lead in certain candies.

The California Department of Health performed a lead in candy analysis which is available here.

They discovered that some gum and candies imported from Mexico contained excess amounts of lead and issued a recall.  This included gum, hard candies, and gummy type candies[vi][vii].  In August of 2008, a Malaysian candy manufacturer voluntary recalled their candy after testing by the state of California confirmed their product contained high levels of lead[viii]. California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment held workshops in March of 2008 to gather information so they can determine a safe level of lead in wrappers[ix].  The recommendations and report are not yet available. 

The OC Register has conducted 1,503 individual tests, with 400 showing excess lead levels – 261 for candy samples and 139 for wrappers[x].  Most of the candies with excessive lead levels are imported from Mexico, however there were also manufacturers from Argentina, Philippines, Malaysia as well as two U.S. manufacturers.  The first U.S. manufacturer was Spangler Candy Company out of Ohio.  Their Astro-pop candy tested high once out of four tests since 1993.  The candy registered 0.3 parts per million lead, indicating enough lead in a single lollipop to push a child over the Food and Drug Administration guideline for daily allowable lead[xi].  The other was Hershey’s out of Pennsylvannia[xii].  Since 1991, six tests were performed and in one of the tests, the level was at .2 ppm.  In 2006, Dagoba organic chocolate issued a voluntary recall after routine testing at their facility detected high levels of lead in their “Eclipse”, “Los Rios” and “Prima Matera” dark chocolate bars[xiii].

The FDA continues to work with the Mexican government to identify the agricultural and manufacturing practices that cause the contamination, although it is reported that Mexico, for the most part, does not have the analytical support, laboratories, and instrumentation to carry out the necessary product testing[xiv].

What Can We Do to Avoid Lead in Candy?

A fifth grade class and their teacher decided to study this and figure out how they could help spread the word about contaminated candy.  They discovered that most of the candies with high lead levels include chili or tamarind (tamarind is a sugary fruit).  The lead is pulled up from the soil, and if these ingredients are not thoroughly washed, the lead can wind up in the candy.  Candies that don’t contain these ingredients can become contaminated from wrappers that use lead ink[xv].  A representative from the Childhood Lead Prevention Program informed the students that eating the candy a couple of times wouldn’t really cause any harm, but since lead builds up in the body over time, if these candies were consumed regularly, they could cause serious damage.  According to a survey conducted in their school, 75% of children under seven were eating chili containing candy and fruit 3 to 4 times a week and 24% were eating it daily[xvi].  The class felt getting the word out about these two ingredients is a good first step.

While there were some U.S. candies that exceeded lead levels, buying candies made in the U.S. is still a good bet.  Manufacturers in the U.S. tend to use water based inks on their wrappers and some are even moving to soy based inks.  Since standards vary oversees, imported candy can still have lead in the wrapper.