Toxic raisins raised no alert
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CommentSubject: Toxic raisins raised no alert
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 09:18:44 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read an article dated: THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2002 from the Ottawa Citizen on Page A15 entitled: Toxic raisins raised no alert - 'Healthy' snack coated with lead for years, but Health Canada failed to issue warning BY ADMAN HUMPHREYS.
Raisins coated with an alarmingly high level of lead were imported into Canada for years without a public warning from Health Canada, despite tests from its own scientists flagging the contamination.
Several samples of the popular snack, which parents often give children as a healthier substitute for candy, were confirmed as early as 1993 to be tainted with lead, a substance that can devastate a child's development.
Health Canada believes the source and cause of the contamination has now been found and says precautions are in place to reduce the likelihood of lead-tainted raisins making it onto store shelves.
Officials have no idea how long the contaminated raisins were sold in Canada - certainly it was for several years - and whether previously imported contaminated raisins are still available for sale. They have not said which brands of raisins were affected.
At the time the raisins were being imported, no alert from Health Canada was ever issued to the public and no products were ordered removed from stores.
Testing of raisins, imported primarily from Turkey, found some with such high levels of lead that eating only a handful a day could give a toddler 64 per cent of the total acceptable intake of lead from all sources, according to scientists at Health Canada's Bureau of Chemical Safety.
Lead causes serious brain damage in young children.
"It is a proven and brutal neuro-toxin," said Elleen Quinn, spokeswoman for The Alliance To End Childhood Lead Poisoning, a U.S.- based public interest organization.
"It impairs learning ability, affects behaviour; there are links to anti-social behaviour, juvenile delinquency and crime. Children are extremely vulnerable because lead is readily absorbed by their developing organs," she said.
Suspicions were first raised in 1993 by Bureau of Chemical Safety scientists when tests routinely done on a variety of foods found unexpected lead levels in raisin pie. The scientists then embarked on a series of extensive testing of raisins from several sources.
High lead levels in raisins from Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran and Australia were found in April 1993, and again in March 1995, even after the raisins had been washed in acid in an attempt to clean them. The Turkish raisins had, on average, no (10?) times the levels of lead in raisins from most other countries, the scientists reported.
An investigation traced the source of the lead to a fungicide.
In an attempt to force action against lead-coated raisins. Health Canada set a limit on the amount of lead allowable for importation. Officials also went to Turkey to express their concern.
Last year, the scientists again tested Turkish raisins and found much of the problem had been reduced.
There could still be a concern over lead contamination of raisins if other manufacturers in Turkey or other countries were to use a similar copper-based fungicide.
The National Post
Well Mr. Helliker, now you know the rest of the story........................
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
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