Posted on 04/27/2004 2:20:35 PM PDT by Kay Soze
PART THREE: THE CANDY MAKERS Use of lead-tainted ingredients in some candies made in Mexico raises ethical questions.
By JENIFER B. McKIM and WILLIAM HEISEL/ The Orange County Register Photos by ANA VENEGAS/ The Orange County Register
HANDS ON: A worker rolls Serpentinas candy at Dulces Moreliates in Morelia, Mexico. The Register found high levels of lead in the version meant for Mexico but sold in Orange County. Photos: ANA VENEGAS/
SUMMARY Situation: Some candy makers produce two versions of their products – a clean, costlier version for the U.S. market and cheaper, sometimes contaminated versions for the Mexican market.
Findings: Candies meant for sale in Mexico showed high lead levels, according to laboratory tests conducted for the Register, but the U.S. versions of the same candies were lead free. Both versions are sold in Southern California stores.
Response: Candy companies say they make candies to meet the regulatory and taste requirements of the different markets. They say making all candy to a higher standard would be too costly. Some deny they make two versions.
RESOURCES Here are some places to turn for more information:
• Orange County Health Care Agency’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (714) 834-8006
• California Department of Health Services/California Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention branch (510) 622-5000
• California Department of Health Services Food & Drug hot line To report foods with lead sold in the U.S. (916) 445-2263
• National Lead Information Center (800) 424-5323
• If children do not have a medical provider, parents may call the Health Referral Line (800) 564-8448
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
MORELIA, MEXICO – Workers in the Dulces Moreliates candy factory flatten globs of sweetened tamarind and chili paste into long, sticky sheets. They roll them together tightly and cut them into slim, brown coils that look like sleeping snakes.
Hence, their name: Serpentinas.
Hair tucked under caps and faces masked, crews nearby prepare the wrappers - rolls of plastic designed with bright orange lettering.
Serpentinas are popular treats in Mexico and among Latinos in the United States. Orange County's ethnic markets, convenience stores and big chain stores all carry them.
But there is something dangerous about the way these candies - and others in Mexico - have been made.
Something about the recipe.
Tests show that chili powder, tamarind and ink in wrappers all have had levels of lead that can cause brain damage in children who regularly eat Mexican candies. At least eight Mexican candy companies have been penalized by U.S. health regulators for producing candy that tested high for lead. State and federal agencies have issued public- health advisories, forcing stores to pull the candies off their shelves and change their candy- making methods.
But instead of cleaning their candies for kids everywhere, some companies have made a cheaper choice.
They sell candies that can be dirty and prone to high lead levels to kids in Mexico. When they make a product for export, they switch gears.
At the Serpentinas plant last summer, that meant workers scrubbed the candy- making machines. They pulled out stores of more costly, sterilized chili and clean apple pulp. They whipped up a different batch of Serpentinas - still a sleeping snake but without the poisonous bite. Then they wrapped the harmless candies in clear, transparent plastic, minus the toxic ink.
Same candy, two recipes.
One tastier, cheaper and often registering toxic lead levels for the Mexican market. The other more bland, more expensive and formulated to pass muster with U.S. health regulators for export across the border.
Both versions of Serpentinas, and many other candies made two different ways, are sold in Southern California markets, sometimes without the manufacturer's knowledge, an Orange County Register investigation found.
In the case of Serpentinas, the two versions come in different packages.
But in other cases, candies are packaged in a way that prevents parents from telling the difference between a clean candy and one that might poison their children.
And within any given bag of candy, each piece is different. The lead shifts and settles during the mixing of ingredients, so some pieces will test high while others will test lead free.
As a result, a simple candy purchase becomes a game of Russian roulette.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and California regulators have known about the problem of different versions at least since 2002, internal memos show. Yet, they have not done comparison testing of the two versions, including Serpentinas. They haven't worked with companies in Mexico to make sure the two versions are easily distinguished. And they have done almost nothing to address the problem of these candies crossing into the United States. Over the past three years the FDA, which screens food products at the border, has averaged fewer than four candy tests per month, according to records.
The Register tested 180 samples of Mexican candy for this series from 25 distinct brands. Eight brands, or 32 percent, had high lead levels.
For today's story, about 70 candy samples from seven brands were tested because they are made two ways. Some candies were bought in their original Mexican-market packaging. Others were bought directly from distributors and candy makers in Mexico before the candies crossed the border.
Four of the seven brands measured high for lead in Register tests. In some cases, the lead levels were six times California guidelines. In all of these candies, the levels measured so high that a child's lead consumption would surpass acceptable daily levels, as set by the FDA, with a single treat.
Register tests of sister products meant for sale in the United States came out clean.
The few candy makers who admit to making candy two ways point to economics, cultural preferences and different food-safety requirements. Products shipped to the United States have to meet specific standards for filth, food colorings and lead content. Mexico has similar guidelines in some areas but does not have the regulatory muscle to enforce them or to educate the industry. Mexican health agencies lack the resources to license or inspect all the country's candy makers, and candy testing is rare. Mexico has taken action against candy makers when prompted by sanctions in the United States.
But the bottom line is this: Mexican candy makers don't believe their products pose any danger.
"We can argue back and forth about what is safe, but as always in business you try to do what you are told by your experts is safe and you go by that and try to serve whichever markets are available," said Luis Antonio de la Torre, the general manager of Mexican candy giant Dulces Vero's Texas subsidiary, which exports cleaner candy to the United States. "We are not trying to hide anything or trying to cut any corners."
Parents and consumer advocates say candy makers put profits before people's health.
"I don't think that Mexican kids are more resistant to lead than kids elsewhere," said Dr. Herbert Needleman, a pioneering lead-poisoning researcher at the University of Pittsburgh. "The evidence is clear on how lead damages kids. It's up to (the companies) to do the right thing."
MEXICAN CANDY SALES UP
Mexico is the birthplace of America's favorite candy: chocolate.
The Spaniards under Cortez found the Aztecs in 1519 sipping a cocoa-bean drink from golden goblets in religious ceremonies, believing it a divine gift.
Through Spain, chocolate spread around the world in different forms, with the first candy bars appearing in the mid-1800s. In Mexico, chocolate gave way to candies that made better use of some of the country's most abundant crops: sugar, chili and tamarind, a fig-like fruit that grows in pods.
Today, the country's roughly 1,500 candy makers range from mom-and-pop shops on rural roads to large companies with offices worldwide. Unlike the U.S. market, which is dominated by heavyweights such as Hershey and Russell Stover, more than 80 percent of Mexico's candy makers are small, family businesses.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
Thanks for the post!
I'm sure many legal children of Mexican descent will eat culturally-Mexican food, including Mexican candy.
If Hispanic children as a group consume significantly more lead than non-Hispanic children (enough to cause slower learning), then that might also influence standardized test results. Unfortunately, some activists will then claim we discriminate against Hispanic children or that the test questions are biased against Hispanic children.
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