FDA warns lunch box makers about lead

NATASHA T. METZLER, "FDA warns lunch box makers about lead", Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, July 21, 2006,
Link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health..._Box_Lead.html

Soft lunch boxes may be lined with a vinyl containing lead, the
government says, but safety officials say the containers pose no
immediate danger.

Food and Drug Administration officials have told companies to look for
a manufacturing technique that does not use lead, which can cause
learning disabilities and behavioral problems.

It is not clear whether this lead can contaminate food stored in the
lunch boxes. Mitchell Cheeseman, associate director of the FDA's Office
of Food Additive Safety, noted that since food in lunch boxes is
generally stored inside bags, the potential for contamination is
minimized.

If the agency were able to prove that lead is migrating from the lunch
box lining into food, it would step in, Cheeseman said.

In a letter addressed to lunch box manufacturers and suppliers
Thursday, FDA said tests by the Consumer Product Safety Commission drew
its attention to the lead content of some lunch box linings.

CPSC spokeswoman Patty Davis said Friday her organization's tests
showed the lunch boxes were safe for children to handle. According to
CPSC's results, children would have to rub their hands on the lunch box
and then lick their hands more than 600 times a day for 15 to 30 days
in order to be exposed to a dangerous amount of lead.

Cheeseman said that when vinyl is manufactured, various compounds are
added to give it different properties, such as color or softness. The
FDA believes that one of the compounds used to make the linings of the
lunch boxes contains lead.

These lead-containing compounds are not necessary for producing vinyl,
said Tim Burns, president of industry trade association the Vinyl
Institute. He said he suspects that the vinyl created with these
compounds is made outside of the United States.

Cheeseman said the industry has reacted appropriately when discussing
the issue with the FDA.

The CPSC did not examine whether lead was traveling from the lunch box
to food stored inside because that is out of its jurisdiction, Davis
said. If that were to occur, it would potentially come under FDA's
jurisdiction as a food additive, Cheeseman said.