PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a public health alert for a popular fruit pouch because it may contain high levels of lead.
The manufacturer of WanaBana Apple Cinnamon Fruit Puree pouches is voluntarily recalling the product, regardless of the expiration date on the package. An investigation on the source of the lead is underway.
Kimberly Kramer, a clinical dietitian at Nemours Children's Hospital, says there are extremely low levels of lead in many fruits, vegetables and grains that we eat because of the soil that they're grown in.
"But some other ways that lead can get into our food is that there is some sort of further contamination that is going on, either in the processing, packaging or anything like that," Kramer said. "I would never want to speculate about what happened in this circumstance, but they are just some examples of how lead can get into our food."
The FDA is advising parents and caregivers not to feed the applesauce to children.
"Headaches, fatigue, vomiting, stomach pain are some common symptoms with [lead] exposure," Kramer said, "and we also know that it can also lead to neurologic deficit when that exposure occurs very early in life."
Experts say anyone who eats the snack should get a blood test.