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

You can buy dried whole turmeric at Indian stores. Take it home and grind it to powder in a magic bullet. Based on the article, it's harder to hide the bright yellow lead chromate coloring when it's used on whole turmeric, versus ground turmeric.

Article explicitly says it was being added to the whole root during buffing, before grinding.

It doesn't seem like something people need to worry about buying it at shops abroad imported properly though - when it was found in the US it was people bringing it home in their luggage.

Yes but the coloring is easier to visually detect on the whole root, versus the powder (according to article). If you see bright yellow whole turmeric at a store, run away!

FYI real, fresh turmeric is a dull orange color with a tan papery skin. It still stains the hands and cutting board when chopped, but that's normal. As the root dries, it turns a dull yellow-orange.

I know; it stains teeth and toothbrushes too, requiring a mad amount of brushing and mouthwash to get approximately nowhere.

('My friend' hasn't bought it fresh since!)

It can definitely make it into US food.

https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/news/outbreak-applesauce...

There's an example of lead poisoning from cinnamon, another common problem spice. IIRC it was traced to a factory in Argentina.

And @dead commenter, yes I'm well aware it's botanically a rhizome, just like ginger. Colloquially, even culinarily, that's not common and it's not particularly helpful to say, many people not knowing what it is, and it's certainly not an important distinction to make here.

I also know tomatoes are fruits, but in the comment section on the importance of eating fruits it would hardly be helpful to give as an example 'yes it's very important to eat plenty of fruit, such as tomato' - it's needlessly confusing when 'apple' would suffice.