The FDA has updated its alert about lead in cinnamon to include more products. There are already almost 20 cinnamon products on the list.
As of Oct. 10, consumers should not use HAETAE-brand and Roshni-brand ground cinnamon because they contain elevated levels of lead. FDA collected samples of these products at a retail establishment.
Similar warnings have been issued in the past year:
Sept. 12, 2025 — The FDA is updating the alert with an additional product, Jiva Organic ground cinnamon, that contains elevated levels of lead. The samples were collected at a retail establishment by the FDA.
Nov. 1, 2024 — The FDA is updating the alert with an additional product, Super Brand ground cinnamon, that contains elevated levels of lead. The samples were collected at a retail establishment by the Arkansas Department of Health and reviewed by the FDA.
Aug. 30, 2024— The FDA updated the alert to include Asli brand ground cinnamon, that contains elevated levels of lead. Exposure to this product may be unsafe. Please view the table and recommendations below for more details.
Consumers should refer to the full list posted by the Food and Drug Administration for photos of the implicated products and labeling details.
“The FDA has recommended that the firms voluntarily recall these products, with the exception of the HAETAE-brand cinnamon. The FDA has been unable to reach Haitai Inc. USA to share our findings and recommend that the company initiate a recall. The FDA will update this notice with the communications from firms that voluntarily agree to recall as we receive them. Please see our previous alerts on ground cinnamon products, March 6, 2024 alert, and July 25, 2024 alert, for a list of additional ground cinnamon products previously recommended for recall,” according to the public warning.
“The FDA is continuing to analyze cinnamon and review sample results received from state partners who have been continuously sampling ground cinnamon at retail for elevated levels of lead.”
Consumers should not eat, sell, or serve ground cinnamon products listed in the table and should discard them.
These products have a long shelf life. Consumers should check their homes and discard these products.
If there’s suspicion that someone has been exposed to elevated levels of lead, talk to your healthcare provider. Most people have no obvious immediate symptoms of lead exposure.
Consumers who have symptoms should contact their health care provider to report their symptoms and receive care. To report a complaint or adverse event (illness or serious allergic reaction), visit Industry and Consumer Assistance.
The FDA has stepped up testing of cinnamon products since the 2023 situation with WanaBana brand cinnamon applesauce pouches market for young children. The WanaBana cinnamon apple puree and applesauce products recalled in the fall of 2023 had between 2,270 ppm to 5,110 ppm lead in the cinnamon. More than 300 children were confirmed to have suffered ill effects after consuming the products.
Food producers add lead to cinnamon to increase its weight and therefore its profitability.
Following the FDA’s targeted assessment of ground cinnamon products for lead and chromium and the FDA public health alert issued earlier this year, several states provided the FDA with data for samples of ground cinnamon collected through the Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM). This is a cooperative agreement with states to help investigate, monitor and remove adulterated foods from commerce and aid regulatory programs. Arkansas, California, Maryland, Missouri, Connecticut, and Virginia collected ground cinnamon samples through the LFFM, in addition to samples collected outside the LFFM from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, all included in this public health alert.
The FDA is continuing to review sample results received from state partners who have been continuously sampling ground cinnamon at retail for elevated levels of lead and will update this alert as necessary if the FDA finds that additional products contain elevated levels of lead and that exposure to these products may be unsafe.
About lead contamination
Lead is a toxic substance present in our environment in small amounts and everyone is exposed to some lead from daily actions such as inhaling dust, eating food, or drinking water.
Exposure to larger amounts of lead can cause lead poisoning. While lead can affect nearly every bodily system, its effects depend upon the amount of and duration of lead exposure and age of the person exposed.
Symptoms can include abdominal pain, vomiting, lethargy, irritability, weakness, behavior or mood changes, delirium, seizures, and coma. However, infants, young children and the developing fetus can be affected by chronic exposure to amounts of lead that may not result in obvious symptoms of lead poisoning.
A child with lead poisoning may not look or act sick. Lead poisoning in children can cause: learning disabilities, developmental delays, and lower IQ scores.
For additional information, please see:
Post- Incident Response Activities: Elevated Lead and Chromium Levels in Cinnamon Applesauce Pouches
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