Health officials warn about high lead levels in Mexican candy

PHOENIX - Pima County health officials are telling merchants to stop selling two Mexican made candies.

The move comes after tests run by California health officials found that Dulmex Rollito de Tamarindo and Vero Vagabundo have high levels of lead. And that, according to state Health Director Susan Gerard, can lead to serious health problems, especially in infants, young children and pregnant women.

Will Humble, director of disease control for the Arizona Department of Health Services, said his agency ordered each county health department to "embargo" the two candies. That means they have to be removed from store shelves.

Sharon Browning, manager of the consumer health and food safety section of the Pima County Health Department, said her sanitarians are familiar with which stores on their route are likely to carry these items. She said they already have been notifying shop owners, either in person or by phone.

But Jaime Vinaras, program coordinator of the hazard analysis critical control point for Maricopa County, said he is hoping that retailers get the word themselves.

"We rely on media," he said. Vinaras said, however, that county health inspectors will check stores they visit to ensure compliance with the order.

Humble said the embargo order will last until there is evidence that the candies no longer contain dangerous levels of lead.

It is not clear how long that might be. In fact, Humble noted that an embargo issued in March 2004 against Chaca Chaca, another Mexican candy, remains in effect.

The problem now, said Humble, is the same as what caused last year's alert: Contamination of the chili used in the products.

"The processes that they're using to roast the chili powders in Mexico are somehow resulting in elevated levels of lead for some of these chili powder containing candies," he said.

Humble said not all Mexican candies with chili powder are affected. But he said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has set a warning level for any candies where the amount of lead exceeds 0.5 micrograms per gram of product.

These two candies came under scrutiny after tests run by California health officials found levels as high as 0.59 micrograms per gram in the tamarindo candy and 0.72 micrograms in the chili dipping powder that comes with the Vero Vagabundo lollipop.

The FDA says that prolonged exposure to lead, even at lower levels, can lead to delayed mental and physical development as well as learning deficiencies. Children are especially at risk.

Humble said there is no specific legal standard in Arizona for acceptable levels of lead in foods or candies. But he said state law gives the health department the power to halt the sale of "adulterated" foods - items which he said includes anything that is poisonous or dangerous.

He said the reason for the cautious approach is that people already are exposed to lead through a variety of ways, including in the air, the soil and even in certain foods. He said that is why measures are necessary to ensure that children are not put at risk through other sources.

Humble said the state health lab in Phoenix does not routinely test candies or other items for lead, at least in part because of its capacity. That, he said, is why Arizona depended on the testing from California.

He said, though, his agency is examining whether it has the time and ability to do regular testing, at least of the type of items that have proven problematic in the past.

This is not the state's first encounter with the Dulmex product. The California distributor of that candy recalled it four years ago after it was found that the wrapper had high levels of lead.

The Orange County Register(southern California) newspaper did a 7 - 8 part series on chemically tainted Mexican candy. It ran about 2 years ago and caused quite a stir in the area. Many of the popular candies were found to have very high lead and other chemical contamination. The reporters went down to Mesco and visited the places where the stuff was made.

Another thing they uncovered was that there were usually dual product lines - One for export to the USA and One for domestic Mescan consumption. The Mescan version was usually much more contaminated.

You might check the OC Register archives for the series. The candy names are probably the same as the names in this story.

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