Posted on 04/27/2004 2:01:19 PM PDT by Kay Soze
Mexican candy - a seemingly harmless indulgence - can contain a poison that is especially dangerous to children.
Story by JENIFER B. McKIM, KEITH SHARON and WILLIAM HEISEL Photos by ANA VENEGAS The Orange County Register
SWEET INNOCENCE: For birthday girl Elva Alexandra Cardona, 2, right, the Pelon Pelo Rico she enjoys with cousin Giselle Yanez, left, is just a sugary treat. But the candy, which has tested high for lead 11 times, and others like it have increasingly been linked to poisoning of California children.
SUMMARY Situation: The state finds lead in candy one out of four times it tests, but health officials rarely pull candy from shelves or alert the public, saying they have few resources and bigger battles to fight. Regulators also fear lawsuits from Mexican candy makers.
Findings: 112 brands of candy tested high for lead over the past decade. In 101 cases, the state took no action. Even when candies have tested high multiple times, the state resists ordering recalls or alerting companies about the results. Follow-up tests are rare.
Response: Health officials say it is difficult to regulate Mexican candies because lead levels can vary from sample to sample. Candy companies insist their products are safe for children.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
The poison arrives in an ice cream truck, "Happy Birthday to You" crackling from a single speaker wired to the roof.
On this street in Anaheim, the neighborhood kids drop their bikes and balls and make a beeline for their mothers to beg for money.
Kids dart toward the truck from between parked cars. Moms give a quick thought to the dangers of traffic.
Soledad Lopez, a Mexican immigrant who is as cautious as any mom on this block, never once considers the dangers inside the truck.
The ice cream man rests his elbows on the counter. Lopez's daughter Diana, a pigtailed 2-year-old, scans the bright pictures of treats. She doesn't want Drumsticks, Fudgsicles or Bomb Pops. Diana wants Mexican candy.
Lopez has no idea that some of the imported candy on this truck is so laced with lead it can cause memory loss, behavioral problems and kidney damage if her daughter eats it regularly.
The California Department of Health Services has documented more than 1,500 tests of Mexican candy since 1993 - and one in four of those results has come up high for lead.
But the state has withheld this information from parents like Lopez, children like Diana and vendors like the ice cream man.
By the time the truck rolls down Diana's street in the spring of 2000, only a handful of people in state offices in Oakland and Sacramento are aware that the little girl's favorite candy has tested high for lead seven times.
Until today, the state's testing records have not been made public.
Orange County Register reporters spent two years investigating the problem: from the chili mills of Aguascalientes, where dangerous levels of lead exist in key candy ingredients; to the makeshift factories of Guadalajara, where unsafe manufacturing practices are routine; to the dirt-floor poverty of Santa Fe de la Laguna, where a village has become contaminated making packages for candy.
But perhaps the most troubling reason lead-tainted candy keeps poisoning children is that government regulators do next to nothing to stop it.
The Register obtained federal and state records that show:
• 112 brands of candy - most coming from Mexico - registered dangerous levels of lead over the past decade. In 101 cases, no action was taken against the candy makers. The results were kept confidential, and the candy remained on store shelves.
• Repeated high tests aren't enough to set off the state's warning system. California health officials issued seven public-health advisories for candy but have done nothing about 37 brands that tested high multiple times. One, the Tama Roca lollipop, tested high 28 times with no action.
• Even when preliminary tests reveal candy samples with dangerous lead levels, regulators haven't always followed up with more testing.
• The state makes no effort to notify candy companies in Mexico when their brands test high enough to harm a child. Candy maker after candy maker said they had no idea regulators had found lead in their products.
The mishandling of this public-health threat has left supermarkets, candy shops, mom-and-pop stores and ice cream trucks as unknowing distributors of toxic treats.
Register reporters bought 74 brands on the state's list of lead-laden candies in Southern California stores - from small ethnic markets in Santa Ana and Anaheim to places like Food 4 Less, Smart & Final, Ralphs, Vons and Gigante. Most of these same candies are widely available from the Oregon border to Mexico.
The Register tested 180 candy and wrapper samples and found high lead in 32 percent of the brands - including some brands regulators haven't bothered to test. Candies were counted as high if they met or exceeded the state's level of concern for lead.
Staff writer Valeria Godines contributed to this report.
Next part: : A key source of lead in candy can be found in the chili mills of Mexico.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
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