(Reuters) – The WanaBana Apple Cinnamon Puree, a product potentially contaminated with lead, was still being sold at Dollar Tree stores despite a recall that began last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Wednesday.
The agency is working with Dollar Tree to ensure an effective recall, it said, weeks after the regulator first issued a safety alert on the purchase of WanaBana pouches following reports of four children with elevated blood lead levels.
In response to the FDA’s Wednesday announcement, Dollar Tree said it had already instructed stores to remove the product from shelves and that they no longer sell that flavor on its website.
The product was available nationally through multiple retailers including Amazon, Dollar Tree and other online outlets, the FDA said.
Wanabana LLC, the maker of the product, and Amazon.com did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The investigation over the potential lead contamination was conducted by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, which analyzed multiple lots of the puree and detected extremely high concentrations of lead.
The FDA on Oct. 31 shared the results with Wanabana, which then initiated a voluntary recall.
As of Nov. 22, there have been 52 reports of adverse events potentially linked to the recalled product and confirmed complainants are less than 1 to 4 years of age, the FDA said.
(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
