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How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people

economist.com

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Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people

#6
>Recent estimates suggest a staggering 815m children—one in three of the global total—have been poisoned by the metal.

This is insane, hard to believe tumeric is the main culprit. But then again lots of these children probsbly live in India, where the leadtumeric seems to be most popular.

Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people

#7
It's not just India or Bangladesh. Lots of brands sold in the US are tainted with lead:

https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/08/six-brands-of-turmeri...

There are tests you can do at home, like leaving the powder in water and seeing if it leaves a yellow streak separate to the powder.

Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people

#9

It's not just India or Bangladesh. Lots of brands sold in the US are tainted with lead: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/08/six-brands-of-turmeri... There are tests you can do at home, like leaving the powder in water and seeing if it leaves a yellow streak separate to the powder.

This sounds like a one-off incident that was caught by testing. Given increased awareness of the issue, it seems unlikely that any turmeric you buy in the US today would be contaminated.

Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people

#10

It's not just India or Bangladesh. Lots of brands sold in the US are tainted with lead: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/08/six-brands-of-turmeri... There are tests you can do at home, like leaving the powder in water and seeing if it leaves a yellow streak separate to the powder.

This sounds like a one-off incident that was caught by testing. Given increased awareness of the issue, it seems unlikely that any turmeric you buy in the US today would be contaminated.

Rather a large number of things are contaminated with heavy metals, because the food industry tends not to test for them and there's little regulation:

https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/your-herb... ("Your Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead: CR tested 126 products from McCormick, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and other popular brands. Almost a third had heavy metal levels high enough to raise health concerns.")

Just from this month, there's a major recall of children's food in the United States that's contaminated with "extremely high concentrations of lead"—enough to cause acute toxicity. No one had ever tested these food products. This contamination was found after the fact, very late, because multiple children in North Carolina were chronically lead-poisoned, to the degree that state public health did an epidemiological investigation and tracked down the culprits.

https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investi... ("Investigation of Elevated Lead Levels: Applesauce Pouches (November 2023)")

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