Parents of children sickened by lead linked to tainted fruit pouches fear for kids' future
Parents of children who posted sky-high blood lead levels after eating potentially tainted apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches are worried about their kids' futures
By JONEL ALECCIA
Published - Dec 20, 2023, 09:30 AM ET
Last Updated - Dec 21, 2023, 11:48 AM EST
When Cora Dibert went for a routine blood test in October, the toddler brought along her favorite new snack: a squeeze pouch of WanaBana cinnamon-flavored apple puree.
“She sucked them dry,” recalls her 26-year-old mother, Morgan Shurtleff, of Elgin, Oklahoma.
Within a week, the family got an alarming call. The test showed that the 1-year-old had lead poisoning, with nearly four times as much lead as the level that raises concern. Only later did Shurtleff learn that that the fruit puree Cora’s grandmother bought at a Dollar Tree store may have been the cause.
“That was the scariest thing that ever happened to me,” Shurtleff says.
