Plomo- NO Como

Let's kick off with a little public health. It seems lead tainted Mexican candy is in the news again. This was actually discovered to be a health concern a couple of years ago in other states such as California. This link shows that California had made 7 advisories since 1993. An advisory was issued in May 2001 by the Department of Health in Washington. It appears that the ink on the candy wrappers might be the source of lead. Recently it was also theorized that it might be how the candy is prepared or the pottery used in the process. But has this candy been taken off the shelves? My brother commented that one of the offenders "Lucas acidito" was sold at Blockbuster. Why isn't there a bigger push to have this candy removed? I wonder if that Mexican candy store on 18th Street (the one by the Mexican Fine Arts Museum and the park) is aware of the dangerous Mexican candy. Have they taken any measures?

It is not just Mexican candy, but the Sun-Times also had a story sometime ago about those trinkets at grocery stores being contaminated with lead. I have seen those gumball like machines that dispense toys/trinkets for a quarter at a local Dominick's store. There are certain questions physicians ask to determine if a child is at risk for lead poisoning.
Are you eating Mexican candy?
Do you buy toys from gumball machines at the supermarket or Kmart?
Those two questions are not included in our line of questioning. However, it seems they need to be incorporated with the rest especially if serving a predominantly Latino population.

Let's rally to make sure our youth are safe from these health hazards. Plomo No Como!!
Here's a pictoral guide to the Mexican candy that has tested high for lead.
There was an excellent 5 part series on 4/25/04 in the Orange County Register which you can access by clicking on the title above.