Fair is fair. Three year ago we blogged about how researchers discovered something desi households have known for years, turmeric is good for your health. So when a study comes out that turmeric may not necessarily be as good as advertised, we’re here to report on that. As it turns out, the turmeric the previous researchers used was probably not bought in some (or, even worse, all???) Indian grocery stores in the US. [ABC]
Now, a study published today in the journal Pediatrics said young children who regularly ingest some imported Indian spices may be exposed to lead — a dangerous neurotoxin.
The study, conducted from 2006 to 2008, followed patients from the Pediatric Environmental Health Center at Children’s Hospital in Boston who had ingested or been exposed to Indian spices and powders.
One 12-month-old boy in the case study was found to have lead poisoning after regularly eating spices such as tumeric, black mustard seed and asafetida.
Turmeric, mustard seeds and asafetida are not the only culprits here. Indian women often use “sindoor” or “kumkum”. Whether it bestows their husbands with long lives is debatable. What is scientifically proven is the potential for lead poisoning for women.
But of greater concern to researchers are religious powders like cherry-colored “sindoor” — which is applied cosmetically on the skin and which Tilak also uses routinely in her home.
Some of these ritual powders comprise 47 to 64 percent lead, according to the study, and can be particularly dangerous when applied on young children.
Bringing these two to a confluence, are the haldi kumkum ceremonies celebrated in multitudes on Indian households across the U.S. If it turns out these products have that high levels of lead as advertised, these ceremonies ultimately could very well turn to be annual lead poisoning orgies.
Having said that, we have to point out that most of this is conjecture, and this study was conducted in the Boston area. It is unknown if the any of the products belonged to stores outside that area or even within that area, for that matter. By law, food and cosmetic products imported into the country have to be approved by the FDA. I can’t imagine the FDA approving products with this high of a lead content, or any lead for that matter. Draw your own conclusions.
Turmeric is practically an everyday product in most South Asian households. How does this news affect the way you view and use turmeric particularly for households with children? As for some of our female readers, if you use “sindoor” or related products, does this affect anything or will you continue using it? Or are you of the opinion, that such studies are “alarmist”?
Looks like you are one of our regular visitors. Here is our RSS feed, just another way to keep up with the new posts.
Loading ...