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Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh

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Re: Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh

#101

Post by colechristensen »

Tozen wrote: post #74

People and companies knowingly contaminating food products with poisons like lead, should be put in jail. Companies knowingly selling such products, should be at least heavily fined, possibly prosecuted as well. Bottom line, this is clearly poisoning (and killing people) to make a few extra bucks. There should be no leniency whatsoever for this clear evil.

A corporation of any size caught doing this with any amount of knowing about it (i.e. not sabotage by a troubled lone wolf) should be seized, sold for parts, and the proceeds from the fire sale going to the victims and if anything is left over afterwards, the state.

There is no fine value appropriate that isn't "considerably more than the company is worth" for that kind of blatant violation.

You should not get to continue to exist after poisoning people for profit margin.

Re: Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh

#102

Post by Eisenstein »

colordrops wrote: post #87
Tozen wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are youtube videos showing how to do the turmeric test with water. Definitely, everyone that uses it, should know this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXWPf0HQd5U (Testing Turmeric Powder adulteration with Artificial Color)

I just tried this test with some turmeric powder I had at home and it failed according to what is shown in the video. I happened to have a lead testing kit, and it doesn't have lead though. The powder does have some ginger and other herbs in it, so apparently harmless adulterants other than lead can cause it to fail this visual test.

Have you checked that test with known lead chromate to rule out test error?

Re: Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh

#103

Post by TheJoeMan »

hammock wrote: post #82
valarauko wrote: post #19

I'm a little surprised at the initial confusion about the source of lead, or perhaps it's the way the article has been written. As someone who grew up in India, our school textbooks in the 90s had a list of common food adulterants, and turmeric adulteration with lead chromate was common knowledge to middle schoolers. I recall the curriculum included how to detect adulteration with simple at home tests. After turmeric…

How can I test for lead in my tumeric? Edit: found this page which is amazing https://eatrightindia.gov.in/dart/

This page is fascinating! I love the iodized-vs-non salt test by rubbing on potato and then sprinkling lemon juice to see if blue (iodized).

At the same time, it feels so sad this page is necessary.

Re: Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh

#104

Post by jorvi »

perihelions wrote: post #40
CoastalCoder wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yikes. Are their any trustworthy, mainstream sources of spices in the U.S.? E.g., if I buy turmeric from Walmart or Whole Foods, can I safely assume that they're monitoring the product streams for lead? EDIT: I just saw a sibling comment about a company named "American Turmeric". I'm curious about more mainstream sellers, who might possibly monitor other spices as well. I'd prefer to not play whack-a-mole on a spice-…

- "E.g., if I buy turmeric from Walmart or Whole Foods, can I safely assume that they're monitoring the product streams for lead?" You can safely assume absolutely nothing. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/your-herb... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29375003 ( "Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead (consumerreports.org)" ) (2021) - "The lack of regulation leaves much of the…

I don’t understand. If someone gets lead poisoning from regularly using a spiked batch of theirs, can’t they sue the everlasting piss out of these companies?

Re: Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh

#105

Post by colordrops »

Eisenstein wrote: post #102
colordrops wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just tried this test with some turmeric powder I had at home and it failed according to what is shown in the video. I happened to have a lead testing kit, and it doesn't have lead though. The powder does have some ginger and other herbs in it, so apparently harmless adulterants other than lead can cause it to fail this visual test.

Have you checked that test with known lead chromate to rule out test error?

Good idea...

Re: Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh

#106

Post by xaedes »

bsder wrote: post #79
hinkley wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't recall where the the Arctic expeditions slot into this saga, but for ages we understood the lemon link but we hadn't identified Vitamin C yet. So there was a moment in time where the British Royal Navy was carrying around concentrated lime juice to fight scurvy (hence, Limey). Only the vendor that made the lime juice processed it in copper vessels, destroying most of the vitamin C. It doesn't take much vitami…

I seem to remember that it was also a switch to a different citrus fruit which had way less vitamin C in it so the processing was much mroe important. However, since the switch corresponded to the rise of steam power (ship trips were much faster), nobody noticed that that they weren't protected from scurvy anymore. It wasn't until the artic expeditions that scurvy protection got tested again.

They believed the scurvy protection came from the sourness of lemons, so they switched to lime which is even more sour than lemon, but contains less vitamin C.

Re: Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh

#107

Post by citruscomputing »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #8
natdempk wrote: post #3

See also "Ground Turmeric as a Source of Lead Exposure in the United States": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5415259/ The problem with lead in tumeric seems to extend beyond Bangladesh.

Yikes. Are their any trustworthy, mainstream sources of spices in the U.S.? E.g., if I buy turmeric from Walmart or Whole Foods, can I safely assume that they're monitoring the product streams for lead? EDIT: I just saw a sibling comment about a company named "American Turmeric". I'm curious about more mainstream sellers, who might possibly monitor other spices as well. I'd prefer to not play whack-a-mole on a spice-…

If they don't publish them, email and ask for a COA (certificate of analysis) with heavy metal data. If you know your lot #, include that too. It's not perfect, you're trusting not only the company but wherever they sourced their spices from, but they DO have the info, and it's better than nothing. p.s. "random" testing is a joke. Also will second the burlap and barrel rec for turmeric specifically. Source: worked in spices for a bit.

Re: Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh

#108

Post by zdragnar »

perihelions wrote: post #40
CoastalCoder wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yikes. Are their any trustworthy, mainstream sources of spices in the U.S.? E.g., if I buy turmeric from Walmart or Whole Foods, can I safely assume that they're monitoring the product streams for lead? EDIT: I just saw a sibling comment about a company named "American Turmeric". I'm curious about more mainstream sellers, who might possibly monitor other spices as well. I'd prefer to not play whack-a-mole on a spice-…

- "E.g., if I buy turmeric from Walmart or Whole Foods, can I safely assume that they're monitoring the product streams for lead?" You can safely assume absolutely nothing. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/your-herb... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29375003 ( "Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead (consumerreports.org)" ) (2021) - "The lack of regulation leaves much of the…

I've always wondered to what extent I've been doing myself a disservice by buying McCormick- surely the cheap powdered stuff isn't able to compete on flavor- but seeing this makes me glad my budget sense beats my foodie sense.

Re: Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh

#109

Post by hackerlight »

hammock wrote: post #82
valarauko wrote: post #19

I'm a little surprised at the initial confusion about the source of lead, or perhaps it's the way the article has been written. As someone who grew up in India, our school textbooks in the 90s had a list of common food adulterants, and turmeric adulteration with lead chromate was common knowledge to middle schoolers. I recall the curriculum included how to detect adulteration with simple at home tests. After turmeric…

How can I test for lead in my tumeric? Edit: found this page which is amazing https://eatrightindia.gov.in/dart/

It doesn't list a test for lead in turmeric powder, unfortunately.

Re: Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh

#110

Post by hackerlight »

rikelmens wrote: post #34
Natsu wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What sort of test would you do for this? Did you have to buy a test kit?

1. The Water Test: Take a glass of warm water and add a teaspoon of your turmeric powder to it. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes. If the turmeric powder settles down, it is pure. If it doesn’t settle to the bottom and leaves a dark yellow colour, it is adulterated. 2. The Palm Test: Take a pinch of your turmeric powder and rub it into the palm of your hand for a few seconds, then turn your palm over. Pure turmeric will s…

Where can I find a source for your first point? This site[1] mentions this test as a way to detect adulteration by artificial coloring in turmeric powder, not adulteration by lead.
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