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Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

(www.npr.org)
349 points perihelions | 8 comments | 11 Jul 25 15:33 UTC | HN request time: 1.632s | source | bottom
1. genewitch ◴[11 Jul 25 16:54 UTC] No.44534404[source]▶
<nevermind>
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2. hoegarden ◴[11 Jul 25 16:55 UTC] No.44534439[source]▶
There are other instances of lead poisoning and not all turmeric is poisoned.. Therefore everything is a lie?
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3. genewitch ◴[11 Jul 25 16:58 UTC] No.44534487[source]▶
There's been several turmeric related stories this past week (not here, but i've seen several elsewhere).

The title is "Turmeric is the culprit in a global lead poisoning ..."

That is editorializing. It is a lie. they found that some markets use lead chromate to improve the product's beauty before sale.

The title leads one to believe that all or even most turmeric has lead in it, which just isn't the case.

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4. hoegarden ◴[11 Jul 25 17:02 UTC] No.44534536{3}[source]▶
You can find links on this site going back years to the fact that adulterating turmeric is a common thing if you think you can get away with it and many think they can even do that on exports.

I'm so sorry you aren't a child in a middle income country?

Most children can be poisoned eventually by a food contamination even if only some percentage of the food is contaminated because most childhoods are years long and most parents don't procure exactly the same supplies..

5. ashwinsundar ◴[11 Jul 25 17:08 UTC] No.44534628[source]▶

    Since billions of people eat turmeric every day (not the same set, but >1 billion each day, surely), if this was an issue we'd have known about it before now.
Yes we have known this is an issue for several years (https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2019/09/lead-found-turmeri...). Maybe you weren't aware.
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6. genewitch ◴[11 Jul 25 17:12 UTC] No.44534673[source]▶
> Some spice processors in Bangladesh use an industrial lead chromate pigment to imbue turmeric with a bright yellow color prized for curries and other traditional dishes, elevating blood lead levels in Bangladeshis.

thanks for re-iterating what i said.

7. pengaru ◴[11 Jul 25 17:22 UTC] No.44534788[source]▶
> if this was an issue we'd have known about it before now.

High-larious. TFA is dated 2024, and I've been reading reports about this practice far longer than that.

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8. pengaru ◴[11 Jul 25 19:29 UTC] No.44536022[source]▶
"Lead in Spices, Herbal Remedies, and Ceremonial Powders Sampled from Home Investigations for Children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels — North Carolina, 2011–2018" [2018]

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6289082/

"Researchers find lead in turmeric" [2019]

https://phys.org/news/2019-09-turmeric.html