Study: The Hidden Dangers of Hot Sauce
Researchers find elevated lead levels in some hot sauces imported from Mexico; urge enforceable screening standards.
Problem
In the last decade, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued several warnings about and recalls on imported food products that exceed federal standards for lead.
Products containing chili peppers and salt, such as Mexican-style candies, were often suspected as sources of lead contamination. Work by UNLV researchers and the Southern Nevada Health District led to the removal of imported candies from local store shelves in 2006. In 2010, the FDA issued an alert for the “detention without physical examination of candy due to lead” for 39 types of candies from China, Mexico, and the Philippines.
The UNLV researchers turned their attention to hot sauces, which contain similar ingredients to candy but haven’t been evaluated by the FDA. Shawn Gerstenberger and Jennifer Berger Ritchie conducted the first known investigation of lead concentrations in hot sauces.
In this pilot study, 25 bottles of imported hot sauces from Mexico and South America were purchased from local ethnic markets, grocery stores, and a swap meet. Product selection included a variety of manufacturers and types, particularly those made in Mexico because of previous lead concerns.
Four brands of hot sauces, or 16 percent, exceeded 0.1 ppm lead, the current FDA standard for unsafe levels of lead in candy. All four of these brands were imported from Mexico, but were from four different manufacturers.
The hot sauces that exceeded the 0.1 ppm lead standard include (Note: Not all manufacturer names were mentioned in the original study):
Salsa Picante de Chile Habanero, manufactured by El Yucateco
El Pato Salsa Picante, manufactured by Walker Foods
Salsa Habanera, manufactured by Salsas Castillo
Bufalo Salsa Clasica, manufactured by Herdez
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