Health
New FDA Alert: Lead Contamination Concerns in Ground Cinnamon Revealed

Cinnamon, known for its sweet, earthy flavor and countless health benefits, can often be found from breakfast tables to baked goods, and even in savory recipes. It’s recognized for its capacity to reduce inflammation, prevent heart disease, and enhance metabolic health. Despite these perks, a recent announcement urges everyone to think twice before using ground cinnamon in their daily meal preparation. A particular brand of the spice has been found to have high levels of lead, making its consumption potentially unsafe.
The U. S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has recently issued a voluntary recall of El Servidor ground cinnamon. The recall was prompted by results from product testing conducted by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. The data showed “elevated levels of lead and that exposure to this product may be unsafe,” as stated in the FDA’s July 25 public health alert.
El Servidor joins a growing list of companies that have been placed on the FDA’s recall list due to concerns about lead contamination. Initially, on March 6, the health alert revealed that some ground cinnamon brands like La Fiesta, Marcum, MK, Swad, Supreme Tradition (sold at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar), and El Chilar were found to contain traceable amounts of lead.
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has set international food safety standards which recommend that lead levels in bark spices like cinnamon should not exceed 2.5 parts per million. The initial March 6 recall involved ground cinnamon products with lead levels that ranged from 2.03 to 3.4 parts per million.
The latest FDA report on the recall states that El Servidor ground cinnamon contained a striking 20 parts per million of lead, an alarming amount far beyond the recommended limit.
“The FDA is advising consumers to throw away and not to buy the ground cinnamon product listed above because samples of this product were found to contain elevated levels of lead. Based on FDA’s assessment, exposure to this ground cinnamon product may be unsafe and could contribute to elevated levels of lead in the blood,” the FDA clarified in its statement.
Ingesting products contaminated with lead can pose significant health risks. However, the severity of symptoms and illnesses may depend on various factors. These include “the level of lead in the food; age of the consumer; length, amount, and frequency of exposure to lead in the food; and other exposures to different sources of lead,” according to the FDA. Among those most vulnerable are newborns and young children due to their “smaller body sizes and rapid metabolism and growth.”
In adults, lead poisoning can lead to high blood pressure, muscle pain, headaches, abdominal pain, mood swings, memory or concentration issues, reduced sperm count, and other risks particularly for those who are pregnant, warns the Mayo Clinic. Children with lead poisoning may demonstrate symptoms like irritability, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, vomiting, constipation, development delays, hearing loss, and even seizures.
To date, there have been no reported illnesses related to the El Servidor cinnamon product. Meanwhile, the FDA has alerted the company about the findings. The agency is urging the distributor to take immediate action and is asking customers to discard any ground cinnamon products sold by El Servidor.
The FDA’s investigation is still ongoing, and updates to the recall list will be made as more information becomes available.
The agency assures that it continues 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.”
Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Ramona Weighton
August 4, 2024 at 4:19 pm
Thank you for this information. I put cinnamon in my coffee every morning. Fortunately,I do not use any of the brands listed.