Another NC family sues makers of lead-contaminated fruit pouches

Another North Carolina family is suing the makers of lead-contaminated apple cinnamon fruit pouches.

Nicole Peterson and Thomas Duong of Hickory, which is west of Charlotte, say their two children are recovering from lead poisoning after eating the WanaBana pouches.

The lawsuit indicates the children’s blood lead levels climbed as high as 24.1 and 20.8 micrograms per deciliter, respectively. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers 3.5 micrograms per deciliter "high."

Since cutting the pouches out of the children’s diets, their blood lead levels have dropped to the single digits, according to the lawsuit.

The children have been treated for lead extraction and are getting continued developmental and medical monitoring to attempt to measure the effects of their lead poisoning.

The lawsuit indicates it was the investigation into this family’s lead poisoning cases that led to the Food and Drug Administration recall of WanaBana Apple Cinnamon Fruit Pouches.

Peterson and Duong’s lawsuit also includes new information about the FDA’s investigation into the source of the lead contamination.

During the search of AustroFood’s processing plant in Ecuador, FDA inspectors found that WanaBana "did not sample and test the raw material or the finished product for heavy metals."

The lawsuit describes another concerning discovery in the report regarding the way these pouches were processed.

The FDA report reads, "There are numerous rough edges, chipped, and pitted areas on the stainless-steel conveyor ... The metal pieces from the conveyor can break loose and become a sources of metal inclusion that could enter food during processing."

5 On Your Side reached out to the FDA for more information about the problems in the inspection report.