Arcadia Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/your-herbs-and-spices-might-contain-arsenic-cadmium-and-lead/#tests “CR tested 126 products from McCormick, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and other popular brands. Almost a third had heavy metal levels high enough to raise health concerns.” how CR tested herbs and spices (PDF). https://article.images.consumerreports.org/prod/content/dam/surveys/Consumer_Reports_Test_Methodology_for_Herbs_Spices_November_2021 5 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 I am horrified. Thank you for sharing; I just threw some organic spices away. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith-manor Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 It looks like Simply Organic was okay for most of them. I need to replace my turmeric so I will look for that. My basil was home grown, and the rest of mine are simply organic at the moment because I hit a good sale at a time when I needed to do some replacing. Ginger is one I am missing. Maybe for now, I can use fresh ginger and hope for the best because there wasn't a single tested brand that was okay on that list. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Darn. I really can't handle one more thing! At a glance I think I have a couple to throw out but it also makes me distrustful. Ugh. Thanks for the PSA! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 yes, thank you! Unfortunately, we have a bunch of these. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Wow, I had no idea! Thank you so much for posting this, @Arcadia! I am so disgusted to read this report. It looks like all of the listed brands of dried oregano failed their tests. I am not happy about that at all!!! At least with most of the other spices, there were some acceptable options. And it's not like I can even hope it's a regional thing, because their spices were all purchased in NY, NJ, and CT... and guess where I bought most of my spices? Ugh. (And realistically, it's not like the spices they sell in other parts of the country are going to be magically free of these contaminants, anyway.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooCow Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 I'm hoping that Pensky (spelling?) Spices are ok....I just threw out all my spices and bought new ones for my Christmas present. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 That's troubling. I wonder how these are getting contaminated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianthus Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 21 minutes ago, MooCow said: I'm hoping that Pensky (spelling?) Spices are ok....I just threw out all my spices and bought new ones for my Christmas present. Penzeys? Yeah, I'm curious about them too. I have a lot. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 @Catwoman it was in the news in November but I didn’t notice it until YouTube recommended CBS New York’s news broadcast on that. e.g. Nov https://www.newschannel5.com/money/consumer/consumer-reports/consumer-reports-investigation-shows-high-levels-of-contaminants-in-some-spices?_amp=true https://www.fox6now.com/news/contaminated-spices-prompt-health-concerns.amp https://www.wral.com/you-likely-have-some-of-these-contaminated-spices/19982611/?version=amp few days ago https://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/6179702-concerning-levels-of-heavy-metals-found-in-many-spices/ https://miami.cbslocal.com/2021/12/30/study-finds-some-spices-may-contain-more-than-meets-the-eye/?amp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmom Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) So I was just thinking—dang—I’m going to grow and dry all my herbs this year. And then I thought—maybe I should get my soil tested! @Tanaqui Dh says lead in soil isn’t uncommon if it’s near a major roadway due to the years of leaded gasoline. It was the exhaust that caused contamination. He says cadmium comes from sewage sludge, manure, and phosphate fertilizers. It’s naturally occurring in bedrock but in such small amounts and not likely to leach into soils. Arsenic is from pesticides. And my husband tested a property once next to a site with a lot of treated lumber. The groundwater and soil was high in arsenic. These are compounds that do not degrade, so once a site is contaminated, the only way to get rid of it is to remove the soil. Edited January 4, 2022 by popmom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 On 1/3/2022 at 4:35 PM, MooCow said: I'm hoping that Pensky (spelling?) Spices are ok....I just threw out all my spices and bought new ones for my Christmas present. On 1/3/2022 at 4:57 PM, Spirea said: Penzeys? Yeah, I'm curious about them too. I have a lot. I thought lead accumulates in the body so I would still be wary about their Oregano.https://www.penzeys.com/pages/consumer-reports “So yes, our spices and herbs are tested and they are safe. But in fairness, a big part of that safety comes down to the fact that spices and herbs make up well less than one percent of the food Americans consume. There are different categories of foods out there and they have different acceptable levels of heavy metals based in part on how much of the product people typically consume. We got our caution dot from Consumer Reports on our Oregano because they put spices and herbs in the same category as children’s breakfast cereal. And indeed, if Penzeys Oregano was your child’s favorite breakfast cereal and they went through one of those phases where they would not eat anything other than big bowls of Penzeys Oregano morning, noon, and night they would end the day slightly over the recommended safe level for lead. In reality, the serving size for Oregano is 1/4 tsp. It really isn’t an issue. That said, and me being me, I find something just a bit too weasel-like in saying because you are not eating cups of Oregano, but instead are only eating 1/4 tsps you can forget about it. Our spices and herbs are safe, and you really can forget about it, but we won’t. Everything else of ours Consumer Reports tested reached that all-you-can-eat safe standard. We will work to get the Oregano there, too, even if it is more of a matter of pride than safety. We will do even better.” 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 On 1/3/2022 at 6:46 PM, happi duck said: Darn. I really can't handle one more thing! At a glance I think I have a couple to throw out but it also makes me distrustful. Ugh. Thanks for the PSA! I seriously have avoided clicking on this thread for days due to just not being able to deal with one more thing. Ugh. So on top of my SAD suddenly kicking into high gear (and not knowing where I packed my SAD light), having to speed pack what is left in the garage in the old house to close this week, trying to get the kids back into the school routine (spoiler - that is not happening this week), setting up cleaning routines so this house doesn't get gross like the last house, packing up Christmas tomorrow, etc I have to go through my spices? I'm blaming McCormick for why my kids are not doing anything but math and PBS shows this week. The spices are the last straw. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianthus Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 @Arcadia We actually eat a lot of oregano... Italian family here. Haha. I'm not really worried about it. My spices are all penzeys and spice islands, very little else. I think it's low on the danger spectrum though. I'm more concerned about whether my saffron is fake. It looks real, but I recently read that the fake saffron industry is larger than the real saffron industry. Just makes me mad about saffron. (Couldn't resist) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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