Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

Post by ashwinsundar » Fri, Jul 11, 2025, 5:06 PM UTC

genewitch wrote: post #13

vasusen wrote: post #4

I grew up in India and now live in the US. My mom recently got some ground turmeric from our own farm when she visited us. I am was stunned by how much more duller, brownish-yellow it was compared to the turmeric I buy in Indian stores in the US. Those are usually really bright yellows. Now, I am really scared that even stuff sold in California is probably lead paint tainted turmeric.

article says "you can't tell when it's ground" - that is, specifically, they put lead chromate in the "buff" stage, so the roots look like they were dried properly. In the same way that a lot of apples and the like will be buffed and then a soft wax coat applied so lots of apples are very shiny at the store. if the turmeric is ground before sale i doubt there's any reason to use lead chromate.

Post by genewitch » Fri, Jul 11, 2025, 5:10 PM UTC

ashwinsundar wrote: post #21

genewitch wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

article says "you can't tell when it's ground" - that is, specifically, they put lead chromate in the "buff" stage, so the roots look like they were dried properly. In the same way that a lot of apples and the like will be buffed and then a soft wax coat applied so lots of apples are very shiny at the store. if the turmeric is ground before sale i doubt there's any reason to use lead chromate.

No I think the opposite conclusion is correct - turmeric starts out whole, and can be either ground down at that point or dried and sold whole. In the whole state, it's much easier to detect that lead chromate was applied. If the turmeric is ground before sale, it's even easier to apply lead chromate and make the whole version "appear" healthier to the next processor who grinds it down and then sells the powder. If y…

Post by genewitch » Fri, Jul 11, 2025, 5:12 PM UTC

ashwinsundar wrote: post #22

genewitch wrote: post #11

Since billions of people eat turmeric every day (not the same set, but >1 billion each day, surely), if this was an issue we'd have known about it before now. Yes we have known this is an issue for several years ( https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2019/09/lead-found-turmeri... ). Maybe you weren't aware.

Post by doodlebugging » Fri, Jul 11, 2025, 5:17 PM UTC

pirate787 wrote: post #19

prairieroadent wrote: post #16

there has to be a way for us as a society to introduce a level of accountability into our so called "food" supply chain without the burden of regulation... perhaps it's as simple as spending more educating our kids about agriculture amendment: seems to be an unpopular take... my point being regulation is a workaround for a population that is worst than uneducated, miseducated, especially in regards to agriculture and…

I support oversight with subscriptions to Consumer Reports and Consumer Labs. I do think government must play a role-- rather than regulate, just regularly test everything and publish the results and ban/recall unsafe products.

Post by downrightmike » Fri, Jul 11, 2025, 5:18 PM UTC

prairieroadent wrote: post #16

there has to be a way for us as a society to introduce a level of accountability into our so called "food" supply chain without the burden of regulation... perhaps it's as simple as spending more educating our kids about agriculture amendment: seems to be an unpopular take... my point being regulation is a workaround for a population that is worst than uneducated, miseducated, especially in regards to agriculture and…