Lead in Food: FDA Study Shows High Levels in Tomato Sauce, Baking Powder

What Happened

FDA released the Total Diet Study (TDS) results from 2021 and 2022 in January and provided users with a helpful new interface to access the data from 2018 to 2022. The information includes test results of toxic elements, radionuclides, and pesticides from representative samples. Users can also download spreadsheets of the data.

Unleaded Kids dug into the results for four toxic elements (arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury) and found some surprises regarding tomato sauce, baking powder, and cod. We asked FDA if they had investigated the results, and last week, we got some more information.

What is the TDS and Why Does It Matter?

The TDS has been conducted since 1961 to enable FDA “to track trends in the average U.S. consumer diet and inform the development of interventions to reduce or minimize risks, when needed.”

A 2017 report by EDF evaluated TDS data from 2003 to 2013 and concluded that “food, and baby food in particular, is a meaningful — and surprising — source of lead. If it were eliminated completely, we estimate the societal benefits at more than $27 billion annually.” A study by EPA scientists that same year used TDS data from 2007 to 2013 to show that food was the main source of lead exposure for most children, and dust lead was the dominant source for the 10% of the 1- to 2-year-olds with the highest blood lead levels.

The next year, FDA announced it had formed a workgroup to examine the issue. Three years later, FDA launched its Closer to Zero program.

In 2018, FDA overhauled the study that included a revised list of foods its collects, updated analytical methods, and a new sampling plan with six U.S. regions representing all 50 states. The revised study divided foods into two groups:

• National Foods are products that are unlikely to vary by location or time of year. FDA collects these foods online or at retail outlets near its Kansas City Laboratory. The agency collects products that comprise at least 50% of the market share for each type of food. For some national foods, to reach 50% market share, FDA combines products of different flavors or varieties into one composite sample for analysis.
• Regional Foods are products likely that vary by location or time of year. FDA divides the country into six regions. The agency collects samples from each of six regions during two different seasons. Each regional sample of a food type is a composite of three randomly selected cities. In each city, they find the most likely food shopping options near three randomly selected residential addresses.

What did Unleaded Kids Find?

Consistent with FDA’s Closer to Zero Program, we looked for foods with unusually high levels of one of four toxic elements (arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury) over the five years from 2018 to 2022. We found three that were surprising.

“Sauce, Tomato, Pasta” (Food #520). The 2021 national sample had 223 parts per billion (ppb) of lead, the highest of any result in the 2018-22 TDS. The results for the food type from the other years were all 4 ppb or less.

The result is especially worrisome for two reasons:

• Popular with kids: The food type includes tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce that may be used on pasta. It does not necessarily have to include paste in the can.
• Likely a composite of many brands: Given the many brands of tomato sauce, the result is likely a composite of different brands to get to the 50% market share. That means a single product could have contributed all of the lead and been much higher.

FDA explained that the products analyzed were glass jarred pasta sauces generally containing tomatoes, seasoning and spices, sugar, and oil. The agency’s regulatory scientists were made aware of the results of this composite sample. They will continue to monitor this product and are waiting for more recent results to inform potential follow-up activities.

“Baking Powder” (Food #902): FDA began collecting samples of this essential food ingredient in 2020. As a result, we only have three years of national samples. FDA reported shocking levels of mercury, lead, and arsenic. 

• The mercury levels were 120, 220, and 866 ppb, with the 2021 sample having the highest level. The 866 ppb was more than 3 times higher than any seafood sample, which normally tops the list.
• The lead levels were 160, 164, and 212 ppb, with the 2021 sample having the highest level. They ranked #2, #3, and #4 for highest lead results, just behind the “tomato, sauce, pasta” mentioned above. 
• The arsenic levels were 77, 81, and 86 ppb. Only rice and seafood products were higher.

While the amount of baking powder is small in a single serving, the levels are high enough to contribute arsenic, lead, and mercury in the wide variety of foods that use it — more than 200 according to FDA and USDA. The market appears to be dominated by just a few brands, so finding the source provides an excellent opportunity to drive down the contamination.

FDA told us that, in response to the results, its scientists conducted a small unpublished study of 20 baking powder products on the market in 2022. They said the results for arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium were all below the 1,000 ppb specification in the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC), 3^rd Edition. Many of the samples were below the limit of detection (2.5 ppb for arsenic and lead and 1.75 ppb for mercury). 

FDA asked us to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to see the results of the 20 baking powder products. We submitted the FOIA last week, asking not only for the baking powder results, but also others that were done but not made public.

Note that in December 2020, 11 consumer protection groups submitted a citizen petition asking FDA to tighten its standards for lead in bottled water and common food ingredients as well as explicitly banning lead as an additive to food contact articles. Most of FDA’s and FCC’s limits for common ingredients, such as candy, dried fruits, and spices, are often 1,000 ppb or greater.

The petitioners called for FDA to act since the standards were set decades ago and did not reflect the current understanding of the risks posed by lead and that more than 2 million young children exceed the agency’s interim reference level.

FDA has not acted on the petition.

“Cod, Baked” (Food #387): Cod is a popular fish, especially in the fish sticks that kids love. Normally, we think of baked cod for mercury. Forty of the top 50 TDS results for mercury from 2018-22 were baked cod.¹ The 44 regional samples collected during those five years averaged 84 ppb with a high of 140 ppb.

We had not noticed the high levels of arsenic in baked cod before. Baked cod topped the arsenic list with levels ranging from 1,300 to 10,900 ppb and an average of almost 5,000 ppb. All 44 regional samples were in the top 50 highest results for arsenic.

Fortunately, only inorganic arsenic appears to pose cancer and neurodevelopment risks. Unfortunately, the TDS results did not show that FDA analyzed the cod samples for inorganic arsenic. The agency appears to only do that for various rice products as well as infant teething biscuits, white wine, and grape juice products.

We asked FDA about the results. They pointed us to a 2018 study by their scientists. The levels of inorganic arsenic in cod were in the low ppb range (4.9 ± 0.7 ppb).

Our Take

We are pleased to see FDA’s responses to our inquiries and that inorganic arsenic levels in cod were very low. Similarly, FDA’s follow-up study on baking powder showed it was responding to the TDS data in an effective manner. We look forward to the response to the study.

Our primary concern was that FDA continues to rely on outdated lead limits for common ingredients. After more than 5 years, the agency should act on the citizen petition.

---

---

1. The other ten were three samples of baking powder, five samples of canned tuna in water and two samples of catfish pan cooked in oil. ↩︎