Lunchbox Recall
Unfortunately just in time for back-to-school activities, approximately 56,000 lunchboxes were recalled last week in the state of California. They were made in China and given out at various health fairs and public events to promote healthy eating. There is a chance they may contain lead, and recent testing found elevated lead levels in three boxes. Surprisingly, testing as far back as July showed lead, but the department continued to do more testing before warning the public now.
The lunchboxes featured a logo that said, “Eat fruit and vegetables and be active” and were distributed to the public as early as November 2006. Additionally, over the past few years, the CDPH has distributed over 300,000 lunchboxes, and although none of those have tested positive for lead yet, they are encouraging parents to not use them.
“Certainly it’s unfortunate that an item we’re using to hopefully promote healthy behavior is then discovered to be a potential health hazard,” said Mark Horton, the Director of the Department of Public Health, in a press release recently. He went on to suggest that children who had used the lunchbox should consult their pediatrician.
“CDPH will no longer use lunch boxes until such time as we are assured that every lunch box is safe. In addition to lunch boxes, we are assessing all of our health promotion items to ensure that they are safe,” Horton said. “We are urging Californians to not use these lunch boxes and keep them away from infants and young children.”
Additional details on the recall can be found here.
