Comments on: Why is There Lead in My Balsamic Vinegar?

By: Elle

Elle — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 03:50:21 +0000

My understanding is that red wine and balsamic vinegar all contain trace amounts of lead. This would normally be totally natural and safe. But the main problem is with Italian imports, because their soil still have residue of those lead pipes in the ground from since the Roman times. I guess if they don’t go through the procedure to prove to the state that the lead level is safe, then the balsamic would just get labeled with the Prop 65 warning without benefit of the doubt.

By: Mel

Mel — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:34:30 +0000

Some people are confused about “Organic”. organic doesn’t mean it is better for you, it only means that it has not been grown with artificial fertilizers and not sprayed with pesticides. Organic foods are just as if not more exposed to Nature and natural fertilizers. That means that what ever is in the soil, including disease and chemicals and depletion of minerals or excessive minerals, makes the plants just as dangerous or not dangerous as those grow differently. Yes, we would all like our food to be chemical free but “Organic” doesn’t mean your food only has “nutrition”. I grow food in my backyard but i have no control of what the businesses around me are squirting out of their venting systems or what my have been under my crops before I got there.

By: Meredith

Meredith — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:40:55 +0000

Jamie, thank you for sharing O Olive Oil! We hadn’t heard of it before – wonderful alternative to the leaded Italian options, especially with our little ones. After searching online, we discovered that even Costco is selling a few different 3 packs of O Olive Oil. Many places to buy it. Thanks again!

By: Tim Reynolds

Tim Reynolds — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:37:05 +0000

If it is part of the grape growing process, since led comes from the soil, do grapes also contain lead?

By: Apple Cider Vinegar Remedies: A Remedy and a Food | Recycle Your Day

Apple Cider Vinegar Remedies: A Remedy and a Food | Recycle Your Day — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:29:40 +0000

[...] worried about the smell, don’t be. ACV will not leave a smell on your laundry. Apple cider vinegar is a great disinfectant. Simply use it to wipe off counter tops and [...]

By: edward cook

edward cook — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 20:29:34 +0000

something else to worry about all the chemicals added to our food nowdays ,we are slowly being poisened by food manufactures who don,t give a shit about health as long as they can find a cheaper way to produce there products

By: Exploding Head: Juice With Lead « FUSSYlittleBLOG

Exploding Head: Juice With Lead « FUSSYlittleBLOG — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:16:30 +0000

[...] This post from a couple of years ago discusses the presence of lead in balsamic vinegar. The fact that not all products that are manufactured in similar ways or that are produced from similar ingredients contain lead suggests it is avoidable. But there is still uncertainty about exactly how this chemical has entered the foods in question. [...]

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:03:57 +0000

I know that the vast majority of non-manufactured food in our society doesn’t require nutritional analysis because it falls under the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) rules promulgated by the FDA. In a nutshell, it says that if experts believe a substance has been in long use by people as a food, and it is generally recognized as safe (such as potatoes) then there’s no need to analyze it for nutritional purposes or test for safe consumption. If a risk becomes known that was not previously known or well understood, then regulation may ensue. For example: if it was found that potatoes from Idaho had levels of lead high enough to trigger California’a prop 65 warning, then they would have to be so labeled – even though they had been consumed for many years without previous knowledge of any problem. This really disturbs those of a particular mindset that hold tradition and the past as having all the answers for what should be obvious reasons. Then, there are others who fear that they will have to make decisions with imperfect information, and they too resent efforts to inquire into areas such as are discussed in the above article.

I think Ms. Lance did a very good job balancing the issues of lead in balsamic vinegar and other foods. If some find that it is incomplete, or not of sufficient depth, then they should get off their whiney butts and do their own work to find out this information and then publish their work as laudably and graciously as did Ms. Lance.

By: sharon

sharon — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:53:47 +0000

Thank you so much for posting this. I am 8 months pregnant and nearly passed out when i read the warning label at Whole Foods at their salad bar that their balsamic vinegar contains led which causes birth defects! i have been eating a ton of salads (trying to be healthy!) and alas, there seems to be a problem with nearly everything these days…so disheartening, but thank you for investigating.

By: John Sellers

John Sellers — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 01:22:49 +0000

Once lead enters your body, generally never leaves. It collects in the bones and stays there permanently.

Doctors will often do not test properly for it, because absence of lead results in blood tests is likely because it is not soluble. There is the possibility of a false negative. Thus tests do not eliminate the possibility of lead being in your bones. By first applying a chelating agent before testing, the lead can be made soluble and then the test would be much more sensitive and would reliably detect the presence of lead in the bones as the would then be circulating in your blood.

Lead can be removed from your body and bones, but the treatment has to carried out with great care because it involves using a stronger chelating agent which combines with the lead to make it soluble and then flushed from the body. The danger is that if the chelating agent is not correctly used, it can leach other materials from the bone such as calcium thus doing you damage….like the old experiment of soaking chicken bones in vinegar until they become rubbery because the calcium is leached out.

I am not a doctor or expert, but I am passing this information along from my dad, who was a chemist, and worked as a test engineer all his life. One job he had for several years was in a lead-zinc mill.