http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/656057.html


Gerber carrots recalled for high cadmium content

By Ronny Linder-Ganz

The Health Ministry announced late Thursday night an immediate recall of
baby food maker Gerber's carrot puree, following tests that revealed
dangerous levels of cadmium, a toxic metal.

Routine testing by the ministry on Thursday determined the presence of
cadmium at levels 40 times the permissible norm. The ministry ordered
immediate tests of Gerber's other pureed baby products for cadmium
levels.

Cadmium has a tendency to build up in the body, particularly in the
liver and kidneys, and can lead to serious illness if consumed over
lengthy periods at high concentrations. The substance itself is
extremely common, used in batteries and the electronics industry. It can
be found in vegetables grown in polluted soil and fish from waters
containing industrial waste.

Gerber was slow to respond to the Israeli announcement and public furor.
The Health Ministry said it was forced to issue a public announcement at
11 P.M. Thursday because Gerber had failed to do so. 

Gerber's official response came only 16 hours later. A statement said
the recall operation began on Thursday and would be completed by
tomorrow. The company also insisted this was an isolated case, and that
no other Gerber products are involved.

The damaged product bears the code: 19.07.06.

Terry Boylan, vice president for communications at Gerber, told Haaretz
the company is focusing on the land where the carrots were grown in its
efforts to ascertain how the product came to contain such dangerous
cadmium levels. 

Gerber's response: 
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/656085.html

Note the last sentence!! 
 
Terry Boylan, vice president for communications at Gerber Baby Food,
told Haaretz over the weekend that Gerber is looking into last week's
recall by the Health Ministry of its carrot puree. Boylan emphasized the
company is viewing the incident with great seriousness.

Tests revealed that the product contained dangerous levels of the toxic
metal cadmium, leading to the recall. High consumption of cadmium
entails a risk of contracting cancer.

How did it happen that a jar of Gerber contains such high levels of a
carcinogen?

 
"We are still investigating the incident to try and understand what
happened, and how such a high level of cadmium was created in Gerber
carrots."

Have you encountered an incident such as this one before?

"No. It's the first time, and even now it's an isolated incident that
happened only in Israel. It's a limited problem of 300 specific boxes
that were sent to Israel. It doesn't pertain to Gerber's other products
in Israel or other states."

You claim that Gerber is a product containing only natural products. How
is it possible that the level of cadmium in it was out of control?

"One of the sources generating cadmium is the ground. We already
inspected the ground in which the carrots were grown, and we didn't find
anything, but we'll check it again. We are focusing the investigation on
the ground in the fields in which the carrots were grown because it's
the only possibility from our perspective. It's not something that could
have been created in the production process - only in the ground."

The incident has aroused harsh reactions from concerned parents in
Israel. Are you prepared for a tough hit on your brand following this
incident?

"Gerber is a company that's been operating for 80 years around the
world, and more than 30 years in Israel. Baby safety and health are of
greatest importance to us. We took this incident with great seriousness,
and we are taking care of the matter with the greatest strictness. We
are making every effort to recall the problematic jars as soon as
possible from the stores to storage facilities. I have no words to
describe how seriously we view this incident, and are doing everything
to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

"Kurt Schmidt, president and CEO of Gerber Products, has been dealing
with the matter himself since the Health Ministry informed us of the
directive. Even before the Health Ministry ordered to remove the
products from shelves, we decided on our own to send a directive to our
distributor in Israel to collect the products."

Still, are you prepared for customers to abandon you and switch to
competitors' products, leading to a decline in sales?

"We believe that parents will see how seriously we took the matter, and
therefore will continue to trust us, as they have until now. As you see,
we take this matter very seriously, and we'll make sure it doesn't
happen again."

Who at Gerber is responsible for product control before they go out to
market?

"It's too early to point a finger. First of all we have to find the
source of the problem, and only then can we seek out guilty parties."

Are you maintaining direct contact with the Health Ministry, or working
with it through your representatives in Israel?

"Both. Gerber executives are keeping touch with whomever they need to be
in the Health Ministry."

Gerber is a longtime international brand - even if this is limited to
the Israeli market - it could reach the international press and cause
you greater damage. Are you prepared for the possibility of
international media coverage?

"So far [12 hours after the Health Ministry's official announcement -
A.T.] only Israeli reporters have approached us. I don't believe the
matter will reach the international press because as I've already said,
it's an isolated incident relative only to the Israeli market."

(That's what you think!!)
 
 
 

Esther Grunis, IBCLC
Tel Aviv, Israel

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