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

(www.npr.org)
351 points perihelions | 4 comments | 11 Jul 25 15:33 UTC | HN request time: 1.015s | source
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infinitifall ◴[11 Jul 25 18:46 UTC] No.44535649[source]▶
I'm put off by how this is framed as a detective story. Pesticides that contain heavy metals and other carcinogens are a well known issue, with India (and South Asia more generally) being the worst affected.

> You'll never guess the culprit

Not knowing about turmeric comes off as deeply ignorant when a billion people consume it as part of their daily diet.

> They don't know that this is harmful for human health

Let me assure you that they absolutely do and they couldn't care less. This also makes it seem like poor clueless farmers are to blame while mega-corporations that process, package, market and distribute these spices are never given even a passing mention!

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1. maxerickson ◴[11 Jul 25 20:32 UTC] No.44536522[source]▶
Uh, the culprit isn't turmeric, it's lead chromate that farmers were putting on turmeric.

For most readers of English, it is not an expected fact that someone would be intentionally adding lead to food.

In the article, the turmeric related lead poisonings were due to turmeric bought at Bangladeshi markets, not processed, packaged spices bought from a grocer.

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2. in_cahoots ◴[11 Jul 25 21:19 UTC] No.44536877[source]▶
But for anyone who knows the Bangladeshi community this isn't a surprise at all. Neither the source nor the way it wakes its way into immigrants diets. Every time my Bengali friends visit Bangladesh they take an empty suitcase to fill with spices, sweets, and the like. The adulteration has been going on for decades.

I feel like the article should have been written from that perspective- an outsider discovering how a different community operates and polices itself- instead of from the perspective of some Western saviors uncovering a new problem.

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3. rahimnathwani ◴[12 Jul 25 06:28 UTC] No.44539818[source]▶
Eh? Adulteration has been going on for decades, yet your friends deliberately pack light so they can bring back those contaminated spices?
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4. in_cahoots ◴[12 Jul 25 06:47 UTC] No.44539902{3}[source]▶
Cognitive dissonance is a thing, yes. Would you also be surprised to know that some Americans smoke and don't use seatbelts?

Not every immigrant is a twenty something working on a Masters degree or working in the tech industry. Most of the Bengalis I know, especially in the NYC area, are here by sheer luck and determination moreso than formal education. The older ones have survived famine, cyclones, and literal genocide. At that point, trying to convince someone that their favorite spices or sweets that they grew up with for 40+ years may be harmful is pretty difficult.

If anything, getting to know the immigrant community has been enlightening in pointing out my own biases. It's easy to point the finger at someone else because they're a fish out of water. But put me in a different culture (or really just let time pass with the attendant changes in culture and technology) and the same thing would be true for me.