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Update 11/24: a rep for Trader Joe’s provided the following statement for the piece: I would like to direct you to our website, where you’ll find information about Prop 65 and what that means for our customers. Specifically, it’s important to note, as stated on our website: “We want to make absolutely clear that we would never sell any product we believe to be unsafe. We take these matters seriously—personally, even, as our families eat and drink TJ’s products, too.”
A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles court this week alleges that Trader Joe’s products contain up to 50 times the FDA-recommended lead content when tested by independent labs. If these levels are real, they could pose serious harms to the health of anyone who consumed them daily. The lawsuit comes just weeks after the American chain pulled 97,000 pounds of chicken patties from shelves after the USDA determined that they were contaminated with chicken bone. Yikes!
According to the lawsuit docs provided to SheFinds by a media contact for the case, Ecological Alliance LLC is suing Trader Joe’s in California over five popular products sold in Trader Joe’s stores: the Super Spinach Salad, Palak Paneer, Cauliflower Stir Fry, Pesto Tortellini and Vegetable Spring Rolls. The state is also home to the lawsuit over the content of Subway’s tuna salad.
The plaintiffs state that independent lab testing revealed that these foods contained up to 50 times the California’s maximum limit of lead for daily consumption for adults. Lead, a toxic metal, can cause high blood pressure, kidney failure and brain damage in adults, as well as miscarriage, premature or stillbirths in pregnant women, and a slew of developmental problems in children related to neurological, IQ, sight, hearing.
The lead content exceeds the state's Proposition 65 guidelines, as well as the FDA's. Proposition 65 is California's Bill that assesses the risk of products on reproductive toxicity associated birth defects, cancer and other harm and requires business to post warnings if they exceed them.
How bad were the lab results for TJ's products, according to the suit? The super spinach contained 25.30 micrograms of lead, approximately 50 times the .5 micrograms suggested for daily consumption in adults.
"We all love and trust Trader Joe’s. That’s why it’s disappointing to discover they are selling foods they have been told contain absurd amounts of lead,” said Vineet Dubey, a Los Angeles environmental attorney with the suit.
The plaintiffs want the grocery chain to "ditch the products or add a label that warns consumers about the dangerous levels of lead." Stay tuned for updates on the filings in this case!
