FDA official: Lead contamination from applesauce was inevitable

cHICAGO — The FDA’s top food regulator argued Tuesday that the agency could not have done much more to prevent the recent contamination of children’s applesauce with lead.

The official, Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner Jim Jones, argued that when companies like the maker of the lead-filled cinnamon in applesauce “are determined to break the rules, they can usually get away with it for a while.” It will take a while before they are stopped.’

Jones, who delivered a keynote speech at the annual meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists, also indicated that the agency hopes to clear some key food regulations this fall, and that it is stepping up its review of food additives to prevent state efforts to the legislature to pass their own additional laws.