As you prepare to roast, bake, or fry your delicious Thanksgiving turkey, there’s a new warning about harmful properties found in some of the herbs and spices you might use.
Lab testing of 126 spiced productions sold by popular brands at grocery chains nationwide revealed many contain concerning ingredients, Consumer Reports said Tuesday.
The investigative consumer magazine said some spices have “potentially dangerous heavy metals.”
From thyme to saffron to paprika, researchers sampled each spice individually in “brown polyethylene jars” shipped to labs for analysis.
Results showed some spices perfecting your turkey contain hazards like arsenic, cadmium, lead, and methyl mercury.
Consumer safety reporter Lisa Gill, who led the study, said 40 of the products – about one-third – had levels concerning enough to present health risks for children and adults.
“Thyme and Oregano came out really as the big losers,” Gill told KNX 1070 News. “Nobody did well when you add ginger and basil...These are some of the most commonly used spices.”
More than 30 of the products charted levels higher than what doctors say a person should consume in an average day, said CR experts.
“When people think about heavy metals in their diet it’s probably the lead in their drinking water,” Gill noted. “But our tests show that dried herbs and spices can be a surprising – and worrisome – source.”
One possible explanation is metal contamination, Gill said. The unfortunate tainting occurs across all brands, even in containers marked "organic. That’s particularly concerning for babies and young children.
“These are not very well cleared by the body,” she explained. “These are kind of like forever chemicals and forever substances and they can really impact developing brains and that’s why we want to take a closer look at it.”
The Food and Drug Administration safeguards herb and spice products, but it hasn't regulated the amount of heavy metals that may be present in food in most consumed products.
The agency does test some of the products imported from other countries. Roughly 24 companies have been flagged for lead contamination and require inspection when brought stateside, according to Consumer Reports.
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