This combination of photos provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, shows cinnamon products sold in U.S. discount stores which contain elevated levels of lead. Top row from left are distributed by La Fiesta Food Products of La Miranda, Calif.; Moran Foods, LLC of Saint Ann, Mo., and MTCI of Santa Fe Springs, Calif. Bottom row from left are from Raja Foods LLC of Skokie, Ill.; Greenbriar International, Inc. of Chesapeake, Va., and El Chilar of Apopka, Fla. | FDA via the Associated Press
Margaret Darby

By Margaret Darby

The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert on Tuesday recalling several brands of ground cinnamon for being contaminated with “elevated levels of lead.”

The FDA performed tests and recommended recalls on nine ground cinnamon brands due to lead levels ranging from 2.03 and 7.01 parts per million.

“Short term exposures to very low levels of lead may not elicit any symptoms. It is possible that increased blood lead levels may be the only apparent sign of lead exposure. Additional signs and symptoms of lead exposure are more likely with acute exposure to higher levels of lead or chronic exposure to lead,” the FDA wrote.

“If a child is exposed to enough lead for a protracted period of time (e.g., weeks to months) permanent damage to the central nervous system may occur. This can result in learning disorders, developmental defects, and other long- term health problems. For adults, chronic lead exposure is associated with kidney dysfunction, hypertension, and neurocognitive effects.”

No illnesses linked to the contaminated products have been reported.

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If you have any of the recalled products in your pantry, the FDA advises you throw them out.

Which cinnamon brands are recalled?

FDA testing found that the following cinnamon products listed below “contain elevated levels of lead,” per the FDA, and should not be consumed.

The FDA recommends not purchasing these products. If you have them on your shelf, throw them away.

These are the cinnamon products included in the recall:

  • El Chilar: Lot codes D181EX0624 and E054EX0225. Both distributed in Maryland.
  • Marcum: Lot codes BEST BY: 12/05/25 12 D8 and BEST BY: 12/05/25 12 D11. Distributed in Missouri and Virginia.
  • SWAD: Lot code KX28223, Best Before October 2026. Distributed in Connecticut.
  • Supreme Tradition: Lot code 10A11, BEST BY: 10/06/25. Distributed in California.
  • Compania Indillor Orientale: Lot code 08 2024 L1803231. Distributed in Connecticut.
  • ALB Flavor: Lot code Best Before: 30/08/2025 - LA02. Distributed in Connecticut.
  • Shahzada: No lot code provided. Distributed in New York.
  • Spice Class: Lot code Best by: 12/2026. Distributed in New York.
  • La Frontera: No lot code provided. Distributed in New York.
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