Story at a glance:

• In October 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a recall for WanaBana apple-cinnamon fruit puree pouches after they were found to contain high lead levels. Two brands, Schnucks and Weis, were also recalled.
• Children who consumed the lead-contaminated fruit pouches experienced symptoms including headaches, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, changes in activity level and anemia.
• According to a UNICEF report, 1 in 3 children have elevated levels of lead in their blood, and up to 800 million children globally can be at serious risk due to lead exposure.
• Edetate disodium (EDTA), N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) and sauna bathing can help detoxify lead from your body. It’s also crucial to pinpoint the local source of lead to prevent its detrimental impacts.

Many parents turn to fruit pouches whenever their children ask for a quick snack. These travel-friendly, resealable snacks are made from fruit purees designed to take the edge off your child’s hunger in a pinch.

They come in eye-catching and attractive packaging and are sweetened to suit kids’ flavor preferences.

But fruit pouches aren’t as great as they seem to be. Aside from being an inferior substitute for real fruits and fresh fruit juices, these seemingly harmless snacks can mess up your child’s health, as they are found to be contaminated with extremely high levels of lead.

FDA recalls three brands of fruit pouches due to lead contamination

In October 2023, the FDA warned parents and guardians to avoid buying WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches, after it was discovered that the snacks contained high levels of lead.

“Parents and caregivers of toddlers and young children who may have consumed WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches should contact their child’s healthcare provider about getting a blood test.

“Lead is toxic to humans and can affect people of any age or health status. Protecting children from exposure to lead is important to lifelong good health.”

Healthy Holistic Living reported that at least seven cases of severe lead poisoning linked to these fruit pouches were identified in more than five states, including Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri and North Carolina.

WanaBana then voluntarily recalled their fruit puree pouches, which were sold in grocery chains like Dollar Tree as well as online retailers like Amazon.

Following these findings, the FDA also issued a recall for two more brands of fruit pouches — Schnucks cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches and variety pack, and Weis cinnamon applesauce pouches.

As reported by Healthy Holistic Living:

“Schnucks, one of the affected brands, reported that its supplier, Purcell International, notified them of elevated levels of lead found in the cinnamon raw material used by Austrofood S.A.S, the manufacturer of the applesauce cinnamon pouches.

“Consumers who have purchased the recalled apple cinnamon fruit pouches are urged to discard them immediately and refrain from consuming the products.”

Local state investigation reveals the alarming source

The suspicion that fruit pouches may be contaminating children arose after local health experts from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) saw elevated lead levels in four children, which indicated acute lead toxicity.

“A dedicated health specialist named Alan Huneycutt from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services played a key role in figuring out where the lead was coming from. His work in children’s environmental health really made a difference,” Healthy Holistic Living reported.

With the help of a special tool that is used to help identify lead in paint, the NCDHHS team investigated different things in the children’s environment that could be causing high lead levels.

They looked at different factors, including the children’s home, paint, dust, soil and water, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

After interviewing one of the children’s mothers, who shared that the WanaBana fruit pouches are among the foods that her children ate regularly, they considered testing the product.

When they confirmed the lead came from the fruit pouches, the NCDHHS immediately reported their findings to the FDA.

Tainted fruit pouches had 200 times higher lead levels than what is allowed

By December 2023, there were 82 confirmed complaints of adverse effects reported to the FDA about the lead-contaminated fruit snacks.

The number rose to 136 by March, along with “345 probable cases, and 38 suspected cases.”

This totaled 519 cases from 44 different states, including Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

The FDA reported:

“The testing results previously reported for the sample of recalled WanaBana cinnamon apple puree pouch collected from Dollar Tree had a lead concentration of 2.18 ppm which, for context, is more than 200 times greater than the action level of 0.01 ppm that the FDA has proposed in draft guidance for fruit purees and similar products intended for babies and young children.”

According to a USA Today article, the contamination was traced back to the Austrofoods processing plant in Ecuador, where the cinnamon used in all three brands was produced.

Helena Bottemiller Evich, founder and editor-in-chief of Food Fix, commented:

“Cinnamon has a track record of lead contamination — whether from soil uptake into the plant, environmental exposure or even other things getting mixed in with ground cinnamon — but the levels here would likely be off the charts compared to what is typically found.”

The FDA is also exploring the possibility that the lead contamination may have occurred due to “economically motivated adulteration.” This is when “someone intentionally leaves out, takes out, or substitutes a valuable ingredient or part of a food.”

An example would be using lead-based dyes to improve the color and appearance of spices like turmeric or chili powder.

Symptoms of lead toxicity

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the children who consumed the lead-contaminated fruit pouches experienced symptoms including:

• Headaches.
• Nausea.
• Diarrhea.
• Vomiting.
• Anemia.
• Changes in activity level.

Other potential symptoms include stomach and muscle aches, fatigue, irritability and weight loss.

In more extreme cases, however, such as when a child is repeatedly exposed to high amounts of lead, more severe symptoms may arise.

Lead has a cumulative effect on multiple organ systems and young children are particularly vulnerable to its effects.

When it enters your child’s body, it can spread to their kidney, brain, liver and bones, which is why it can cause hematological, gastrointestinal and neurological effects.

Seizures, encephalopathy and coma may also occur, which can result in brain damage.

1 in 3 children worldwide have high lead levels

There’s no question that lead poisoning is now a grave public health issue, and to see toxic levels of this damaging heavy metal in foods made for children is nothing short of appalling.

However, this has been a long-term concern — for years, lead has been used for various industrial applications, such as for making paint, cables and batteries, as well as a gasoline additive.

In 2020, UNICEF and Pure Earth released a report titled “The Toxic Truth,” which explores the severity of lead contamination in children all around the globe.

According to UNICEF, children worldwide are suffering from lead poisoning on a “massive and previously unknown scale.”

The report states that 1 in 3 children have lead blood levels of more than 5 micrograms per deciliter (ug/dL), which constitutes immediate action. Up to 800 million children globally can be at serious risk due to lead exposure, and almost half of them are living in South Asia.

However, the CDC identifies a blood reference value of 3.5 ug/dL to be potentially dangerous — which means that the report’s estimates are even higher.

This is devastating, as the developing bodies of children could be more severely compromised.

According to a 2023 study published in Environmental Advances:

“Children are more susceptible to lead than adults for several reasons, including the fact that children constantly put their hands in their mouths, the fact that children’s guts absorb lead more easily than adults, and the fact that children’s [central nervous systems] CNSs are more sensitive to toxins than adults are still developing.”

Lead levels in adults are also concerning

Although the damage may seem far less severe in adults than in children, it can progress to severe health problems, like cardiovascular complications and even death.

A 2018 paper published in The Lancet found that lead contamination in adults is associated with a higher risk of mortality.

One in five deaths, and over 1 in 4 cardiovascular-related deaths are related to lead toxicity. Lead contamination can also put you at risk of:

• Low sperm count, libido and other reproductive issues.
• Headaches.
• Seizures.
• Hearing and vision problems.
• High blood pressure.
• Nerve disorders.
• Muscle and joint pain.
• Brain damage.
• Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

The World Health Organization says that there’s no such thing as a safe level of exposure. It’s such a powerful toxin that even low-level exposure can inhibit cognitive development, leading to reduced IQ scores. It can also increase your risk of violent and criminal behavior later in life.

What’s more, lead can have multigenerational impacts. Chronic exposure, even at low levels, can result in health effects, yet the symptoms don’t manifest until years after exposure.

Research has also demonstrated that lead:

• Impairs your nitric oxide signaling.
• Promotes inflammation.
• Alters renin-angiotensin system.
• Disturbs vascular smooth muscle calcium signaling.
• Raises superoxide and hydrogen peroxide in endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells.

[…]

Via https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/lead-1-in-3-children-elevated-blood-levels-fruit-pouches-fda-cola/

In a victory for health freedom advocates, New York lawmakers failed to pass a bill that would have required healthcare providers to report the immunizations of people ages 19 and up to the New York State Department of Health or New York City Department of Health vaccine registry, unless the patients opted out.

Under existing law, healthcare providers must report immunizations administered to people under age 19, to the New York State Immunization Information System. Those over age 19 can consent to opt into the database, otherwise healthcare providers are not allowed to report the immunizations.

The current system requires healthcare workers to get verbal consent from patients 19 years or older in order to include their information in the database, according to John Gilmore, founder of the Autism Action Network.

The original opt-in law required written permission, but that’s no longer the case, Gilmore said.

“Theoretically, if you know your rights you could tell them to not include any information about you,” he said. “Then you just had to trust that your wishes were followed with no way to check if they respected your instructions,” Gilmore said. “It essentially makes it a mandatory system.”

The new legislation proposed this year would have replaced the “opt-in” system with an “opt-out” system, eliminating the need to obtain the patient’s written or verbal permission, Gilmore said.

The New York State Assembly passed the bill (A7154) on June 1, 2023. However, the Senate version (S1531) did not make it to a vote before the legislature adjourned late last week.

Children’s Health Defense (CHD) last month sent a letter to key state lawmakers opposing the bill.

Gilmore celebrated the bill’s failure to pass. He told The Defender the bill is dead for now. Lawmakers will have to reintroduce it next year and “start from scratch to overcome all the legislative hurdles bills” needed to pass.

“The Assembly voted last spring to pass this bill, but since the Senate did not pass it and we are coming up to an election for the legislature in November, the Assembly would have to vote on a brand-new version of the bill,” Gilmore said.

Michael Kane, founder of NY Teachers for Choice, also welcomed the news. Noting that the proposed bill died just weeks after lawmakers withdrew a “dangerous” bill that would have allowed children to receive vaccines, drugs and surgical procedures without parental consent, Kane said such bills were politically risky in an election year.

“All bills in New York are dead now until January. Everyone is starting to campaign for the elections and primaries,” Kane said.

Database would be ‘central nervous system’ for digital passport system

Mary Holland, CEO of CHD, told The Defender that passage of the legislation would have facilitated future vaccine mandates:

“Medical decision-making should be a private matter between individuals and their chosen healthcare providers. The state should not be involved. The only rationale for a statewide registry for adult vaccines is to provide for subsequent vaccine mandates. CHD opposes mandates and registries that would lead to them.”

Sujata Gibson, a civil rights attorney who has represented plaintiffs in several New York cases challenging COVID-19 vaccine mandates, said:

“This legislation masquerades as an option but is, in truth, a Trojan horse paving the way for wider mandates. The notion of an ‘opt-out’ is a thin veil over its deeper implications. In practice, patients are rarely informed of their rights, and having a default reporting requirement opens the door for future encroachments on individual freedoms.”

“The only reason to know every single vaccine given to adults in New York is to know who did not get them,” Kane said. “That type of database would be the central nervous system for a state-wide digital vaccine passport system.”

CHD’s May 10 letter to key New York State legislators, co-signed by Holland and CHD General Counsel Kim Mack Rosenberg, cited several reasons lawmakers should reject the proposed bills, including constitutional questions.

According to the letter, the legislation would eliminate “the requirement of informed consent” as vaccine administrators would have had “no duty to seek consent” from patients before submitting their vaccination information to the state or city database.

The proposed legislation also contained “No safeguards against the State retaliating against individuals who refuse to consent to inclusion in the registry (even if vaccinated) or who make the decision not to take a vaccine or vaccines.”

“These bills convert private health information into public information,” the letter stated, noting that they “violate state and federal laws regarding physician-patient privilege and the right to privacy and seek to harvest data from unsuspecting patients who may later be targeted through this identifying information.”

The legislation also likely violated 14th Amendment privacy rights and “the individual interest in avoiding disclosure of personal matters,” the letter noted.

Health freedom advocates credited CHD’s efforts in helping to defeat the bills. According to Gilmore:

“We had a meeting with the Senate Health Committee Chair’s office in May. CHD’s Mary Holland was there, and she laid out the many legal problems with S1531 and she let them know in no uncertain terms that they would see CHD in court if they passed the bill.

“CHD prepared a legal memo outlining the problems with S1531 and we made sure anybody who was anybody in Albany got a copy of it and read it. CHD is crucial in this fight in New York. Their legal muscle is one of the most effective weapons we have.”

Kane also credited CHD with helping to make a difference. “There was a response. The response was that the bills went nowhere,” he said.

Gilmore summed up the win:

“We have stopped these bills because we have created a wide, diverse and deep network of organizations and people across the state who will fight for their rights and their families. We keep people well informed about where the bills are in the process and we are all over the legislators from the first day of the session until they crack the last gavel.”

‘Attack on informed consent and privacy rights’

As of 2018, Rhode Island and New Hampshire were the only states without an adult vaccination database of any kind. Rhode Island established its registry in 2020, New Hampshire did so in 2022.

There are key differences, though. Most states, such as Rhode Island, require patients to actively opt out of reporting their vaccinations to the state database.

However, New Hampshire established an opt-in system under pressure from privacy advocates, joining Texas and Montana as the only states that require healthcare providers to obtain permission before reporting vaccinations to the state database.

Kane said both opt-in and opt-out systems are problematic:

“With the opt-in, practitioners already violate the law — they just enter people regardless quite often. It used to be that you had to get written consent to put an adult in the database. Then it became verbal consent — that they don’t always follow. Now they want opt out.

“You see what the trend is — it is an attack on informed consent and privacy rights. There is no reason for the government to have their hands on our personal medical records. Period. Full stop.”

New York’s elimination of the religious exemption to vaccination in 2019, efforts to quarantine unvaccinated students in one New York county earlier that year and the strict COVID-19 restrictions the state implemented during the pandemic helped spur opposition to the proposed legislation, health freedom advocates said.

“The restrictions we faced during COVID were egregious, largely illegal, and in the long run, people began to recognize how damaging they were,” said Paul Jaffe, a plaintiff in a case that successfully challenged the quarantine of unvaccinated children in Rockland County, New York, in 2019.

This helped build a strong resistance to the Pharma-backed legislation, Jaffe said.

“When they started to illegally exclude kids from schools with no cases of measles in 2018, they made reference immediately to the registry at the Health Department of which kids were vaccinated and which were not. The registry is useful for compelling people to undergo medical procedures — in this case, vaccination — or lose rights,” Jaffe added.

Kane said the loss of the religious exemption, which stemmed from the 2019 Rockland County case, “was a major blow” — but said it “galvanized” advocates such as Gilmore and many ordinary citizens to go to Albany twice every year, at the beginning and end of the legislative session.

“This effort has led to medical freedom being viewed as a true political movement in New York and a voting bloc,” Kane said. As a result, “the New York Senate has lost almost all appetite for these bills.” In the last two years, he said, “none of these bills have even been voted on in committee.”

[…]

Via https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/new-york-fails-enact-mandatory-adult-vaccine-registry/