A Kansas mother said that metal made its way into her 3-year-old daughter's intestines after she had given the child a multivitamin for kids.
Metal Shavings In Toddler's Gummy Vitamins
Samantha Anderson's family has been using Zarbee's Naturals multivitamins for years but she made an alarming discovery while separating the gummies that clumped together. She noticed something that looked like metal shavings.
Her husband then used a magnet to see if the metal shavings would stick. Their suspicions were confirmed when the magnet picked up the materials.
The discovery raised concern because the gummies Anderson was separating were the last few in the bottle she had been giving her toddler Milani for three months.
"I fed these to her. I feel like I have failed. I feel terrible that this metal is in her stomach," she said.
The child's pediatricians recommended that Milani get an x-ray. The report said that the technician did not find large amounts of metal in the child's body, but the family claimed they were told the x-ray showed metal in the girl's intestines.
"Food is mass produced these days and metal machines will break apart and I guess pieces will fall into the production line, but there's supposed to be people or tools to catch those things," Anderson said.
Anderson said when she contacted Zarbee's Naturals, a representative asked that she send in the bottle and its contents. The company also offered her coupons for future purchases.
In a statement, an FDA spokesperson said that the FDA is aware of the incident and is currently investigating the complaint.
Metal Contamination
Metal contamination is also a concern in the food industry. In May, Hormel recalled 228,000 pounds of Spam and other canned meat products in response to multiple complaints from consumers of finding metal pieces inside the can.
In 2017, OK Foods also recalled breaded chicken products for possible metal contamination. The extraneous materials likely originated from a particular conveyor belt in the processing plant.
Consumption of products contaminated with metal may cause oral injuries.
