-WJLA SCRIPT-

ANCHOR:
NOW TO A SEVEN-ON-YOUR-SIDE INVESTIGATION.... YOU COULD BE PUTTING YOUR HEALTH AT RISK THE NEXT TIME YOU REACH FOR A SWEET TREAT. ROSS MCLAUGHLIN TOOK SOME CANDY TO THE LAB FOR TESTING. HE'S HERE TONIGHT WITH THE RESULTS. ROSS?

ROSS MCLAUGHLIN: THESE ARE "DANGEROUS SWEETS" AND WE BOUGHT THEM AT LOCAL GROCERY STORES. DRIED FRUIT..TOFFEE...ALL POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS TO YOU AND TO YOUR CHILDREN.

STORY:

Ross: "Dried fruit...Tamarind Candy ." 

WE HIT LOCAL STORES TO FIND OUT WHAT'S IN THIS FOREIGN CANDY. 

Ross: "Mexico...Does that say South America?" 

AND CHINA. THEN WE TOOK IT ALL TO SCHNEIDER LABS IN RICHMOND. 

Lab worker: "This is the Mandarin peel." 

THEY GROUND IT... PREPPED IT... BAKED IT... AND THEN THE RESULTS WERE IN... ALL OF THESE SWEETS HAVE HIGH LEVELS OF LEAD. 

Dr. Lee Beers: "I wouldn't want my child eating you know, foods with that level of lead in it." 

DOCTOR LEE BEERS OF THE CHILDREN'S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER KNOWS THE HAZARDS. LEAD'S A POISON...BECAUSE AT HIGH LEVELS, LEAD CAN CAUSES NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS, SEIZURES, COMA...EVEN DEATH. 

Dr. Lee Beers: "Really, no lead is good lead." 

AND THE FDA AGREES. IT SAYS LEAD IN CANDY SHOULD NOT EXCEED POINT ONE PARTS PER MILLION, BUT LOOK AT WHAT WE DISCOVERED... 

DRIED FRUIT FROM CHINA, ALL WITH HIGH LEAD LEVELS. THE MANDARIN PEEL AND THIS DRIED FRUIT...7 TIMES OVER THE LIMIT, THE DRIED PLUM 4 TIMES AS HIGH...BUT IT'S NOT JUST CHINA, THE TOFFEE FROM EL SALVADOR HAD 5 TIMES THE RECOMMENDED LIMIT. 

Ross: "We found lead in this candy."
Shopper: "Well no...I'm shocked you know."
Ross: "Would you buy it for kids?"
Shopper: "No." 

EXACTLY. 

Ross: "I'm Ross McLaughlin from 7 On Your Side, we wanted to bring something to your attention." 

SHE GETS RIGHT ON IT. THEY TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION... 

Carmen Salazar/Store Supervisor: "Take it all off." 

THE TOFFEE IS OFF THE SHELVES. 

Ross: "This is where we got the mandarin peel, plum product." 

AND THE CHINESE PRODUCTS? 

Ross: "You're not going to sell it?"
Store worker: "No, I'm not going to sell it." 

IT'S REMOVED TOO. 

Ross: "You're concerned about safety."
Store worker: "Yeah safety." 

ROSS MCLAUGHLIN IN STUDIO:
LEAD CAN GET INTO THE CANDY THROUGH THE PROCESSING OR LEACH INTO IT FROM THE WRAPPER. WE FOUND IT THERE TOO. THIS WRAPPER HAD 34 THOUSAND TIMES MORE LEAD THAN THE FDA'S RECOMMENDED LIMIT FOR CANDY. IN THE PAST PRODUCTS WITH MUCH LOWER LEVELS THAN WHAT WE FOUND HAVE BEEN RECALLED. WE NOTIFIED THE FDA AND TRIED CONTACTING THE MANUFACTURERS TO TELL THEM ABOUT IT.

For more information about the lab we used click here.

 Email To Friend