Lead in lunchables?
Expert
Food Science Babe: Chemical engineer, food scientist
Claim
Lead found in Lunchables poses a health risk
Reality
Lunchables are high in salt and preservatives. There are better food options for children. But a Consumer Reports report that found lead and “other contaminants” in prepackaged food was quickly overblown.
As Erin (Food Science Babe) notes, the reason for immediate scare headlines around this report is because Consumer Reports found that Lunchables had the highest amount of lead from all the products tested. The problem? It was 74% of the California maximum level daily limit (MADL), which means it’s still well within the safe range.
The MADL is 0.5 microgams of lead per day. But if lead is naturally occurring, as it is in many fruits, vegetables, and herbs, that’s not counted toward that limit. Normal daily serving sizes of fruit, vegetables, and herbs exceed 0.5 micrograms. That still doesn’t mean it’s harmful. The California max limit is just an “extremely low threshold,” and Lunchables still remained under it.
This IRL [in real life] for lead is 2.2 micrograms per day for children and 8.8 micrograms per day for people of childbearing age. So if we were to go back and do the math of those scary looking numbers, 74% of the MADL and we were to do it as a percentage of this IRL, the highest one that they found, 74% would end up being 16% of the IRL.
