A nationwide cinnamon recall just got worse as FDA warns of elevated lead levels: Full list of brands to avoid

Who doesn’t love a little cinnamon sprinkled on their toast or oatmeal?

Unfortunately, lovers of the spice now have more things to worry about. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded its list of ground cinnamon products to avoid over fears that they could contain elevated levels of lead. Here’s what you need to know about the latest cinnamon products the FDA is warning consumers to avoid.

What’s happened?

On October 10, the FDA updated its ongoing list of ground cinnamon products that consumers should avoid due to fears that the products may contain elevated levels of lead, which could be harmful.

The most recent updates to the list of products are just the latest additions to a list that the agency originally published in July 2024.

Since then, the FDA has added additional products to the list five times—two of those times being very recently, on October 8 and October 10.

Upon publishing its original notice in 2024, the agency said that it had “determined that the ground cinnamon products listed in the table below contain elevated levels of lead and that exposure to these products may be unsafe.”

These determinations were made after product testing by state programs that the FDA itself later confirmed.

As a result of the findings, the FDA recommended that the firms involved should voluntarily recall the products—the list of which has consistently grown.

What cinnamon products should I avoid?

As of the time of this writing, the FDA lists 16 different cinnamon products consumers should avoid due to fears of elevated levels of lead. Those products include:

Images of the products can be found on the FDA’s notice here.

Has anyone been harmed by consuming the designated products?

As of the time of this writing, no one is yet known to have been harmed by consuming the listed products, the FDA says. However, it can take months or years to see the negative health effects of elevated levels of lead in the body.

“Long-term exposure (months to years) to elevated levels of lead in the diet could contribute to adverse health effects, particularly for the portion of the population that may already have elevated blood lead levels from other exposures to lead,” the agency warns in its notice.

The FDA goes on to explain that the adverse health effects of consuming lead-contaminated food vary depending on a number of factors, including the age of the person, the volume and frequency of lead exposure, and more.

“The very young are particularly vulnerable to the potential harmful effects from lead exposure because of their smaller body sizes and rapid metabolism and growth,” the agency warns. “High levels of exposure to lead in utero, infancy, and early childhood can lead to neurological effects such as learning disabilities, behavior difficulties, and lowered IQ.”

What are the consequences of lead exposure?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), exposure to lead in children can result in adverse effects, including:

• Damage to the brain and nervous system
• Slowed growth and development
• Learning and behavior problems
• Hearing and speech problems

The CDC says this can lead to lower IQ, a decreased attention span ability, and underperformance in educational environments.

“Lead exposure in children is often difficult to see,” the agency notes. “Most children have no obvious immediate symptoms. If parents believe their children have been exposed to lead, they should talk to their child’s healthcare provider.”

What should I do if I have the listed cinnamon products?

Ground cinnamon products last for years, which means consumers may have the products in their kitchen pantries and on their shelves, and may even have forgotten about them—and so people may not use the products until far in the future when they suddenly need the spice for cooking or baking.

But the FDA is warning consumers to check their homes now and discard any of the products on the list, warning that “consumers should not eat, sell, or serve ground cinnamon products” the agency has identified as potentially having elevated levels of lead.

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