Proposition 65 - Lead in Red Wine and Balsamic Vinegar
Posted by admin on August 19th, 2007 at 08:01pm
Proposition 65 was enacted in 1986 in California. Its purpose was to make it mandatory for citizens to be alerted to the presence of harmful chemicals in food and drinking water. Lead is one of the chemicals targeted by this proposition.
Today, I went grocery shopping at my local market, and I needed to pick up some vinegar. Imagine my surprise when I found the vinegar shelves bedecked with labels bearing the following message:
“CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 65 WARNING
The Red Wine Vinegars and Balsamic Vinegars contain lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.”
Despite the fact that proposition 65 has been around for more than twenty years, this is the first time I have encountered this warning on vinegar. I was rather dismayed, having always been such a big fan of balsamic vinegar for cooking.
Why is there lead in the vinegar?
I have encountered two explanations of this, the first being that lead gets into vinegar during the process of manufacturing, and the other being that wine grapes suck lead up out of the ground. There seems to be some bias behind both of these explanations, leaving us, the consumer, with only the fact that there is enough lead in red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar to merit the proposition 65 warning.
In 2004, a lawsuit was filed under the Environmental Law Foundation of Oakland, demanding that the public be alerted by these signs in the grocery store, and it looks as though they have won. The Environmental Law Foundation spent $50,000 testing vinegars, and discovered that the vinegars exceeded the allowed 0.5 micrograms of lead per day, under proposition 65.
What are your vinegar alternatives?
You will note that it is only red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar that are being labelled as unsafe for human consumption. These products are made of grapes. However, you can still use rice vinegar and apple cider vinegar in your cooking. I do share the disappointment of others over the loss of the red vinegars, which so many of us have kept as a pantry staple for so long. But, be smart about this. Lead is no joke.
What is lead poisoning?
Lead does not have a known biological role in body function. It is purely an external toxicity. Lead is absorbed into the bloodstream when a person handles, breathes, or swallows items containing this element. The symptoms of chronic lead poisoning due to repeat or prolonged exposure include abdominal pain, headache, seizures, coma, vomiting, anemia, and disorders of the brain. Lead poisoning has historically been a cause of insanity and criminal behavior. This is not something you want to play around with, merely because you’ve enjoyed the taste of an optional condiment.
It’s not just vinegar.
Proposition 65 also covers lead-contaminated candy and ceramics, arsenic in bottled water, and mercury levels in fish. There is a reaction every time a food or household item is discovered to contain a harmful chemical, and this outcry can generally be traced back to manufacturers whose income depends on selling the product in question. Pay attention to any argument that attempts to downplay the seriousness of contaminated, toxic food. Discover for yourself where these minimizing arguments are actually coming from. Whose best interest is at heart when it comes to saying that consumers shouldn’t worry about eating lead?
I am sure that the warning labels will put a dent in the earnings of producers of red wine and balsamic vinegars, but no doubt many people will continue to consume them. With so few laws currently protecting Americans from eating harmful substances, it is little wonder that the majority of the public has not yet learned to take this issue seriously. But here in California, we’ve been given a genuine warning. At least we now have the choice to buy or not to buy a product that is being labelled as toxic.
Under Food Alert
20 Comments for Proposition 65 - Lead in Red Wine and Balsamic Vinegar
1. Diane Vigil | September 19th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Thank you for pointing out this article to me, Miriam. It’s quite shocking to learn that these vinegars are not safe to consume. I’ll look forward to visiting your blog and to see what you have to say.
2. admin | September 19th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Diane. It is a huge disappointment about the balsamic vinegar. I’ve always loved it. Have to live without it until they can discover away to make it lead-free.
Miriam
3. RioShooter | December 27th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
No big deal. I make my own bullets and reload 100’s of rounds of ammo every week. My lead levels have not increased. I’m going to continue to enjoy balsamic vinegar.
4. RecoveringNicholas.com &r&hellip | January 2nd, 2008 at 10:07 pm
[…] Proposition 65 - Lead in Red Wine & Balsamic Vinegar « What ingredients make up your favorite shampoo? makeup? perfume? […]
5. shay | January 8th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Is there any information regarding the quantity of lead in different brands of balsamic vinegar? Those who love balsamic vinegar will want to reduce their consumption and knowing the brands with the lower quantities of lead will be very helpful.
6. admin | January 11th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Dear Shay,
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. We had a power outage here, so it’s taken me a week to get back to you.
I agree with you, it is really hard to say no to delicious balsamic vinegar, but to date, I have not heard of any studies saying that one variety had more lead or less lead than another.
At this point, there is still confusion about whether the source of the lead is the soil, the processing, the barrels. Wouldn’t it be great if they could figure out the problem and find a way to produce lead-free balsamic vinegar?
If, in your research, you come across any more information about various lead levels, I’d appreciate you sharing it here. For now, I’m just having to use rice vinegar instead. Any amount of lead is really bad news for your brain.
*A quick tip…if you mix rice vinegar with a little berry juice (such as Santa Cruz brand Mixed Berry Juice…it does take on a more fruity flavor like that of balsamic vinegar. I’ve been experimenting with this and like the results.
7. Food Warning Thread - Dis&hellip | January 18th, 2008 at 8:40 am
[…] read that California has labeled the Balsamic and Red Wine Vinegars as toxic in Proposition 65 (
8. Food Warning Thread - Dis&hellip | January 18th, 2008 at 9:44 am
[…] read that California has labeled the Balsamic and Red Wine Vinegars as toxic in Proposition 65 (
9. virginia | March 14th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
where can I get a list of balsamic vinegars that do not contain lead?
10. admin | March 14th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Dear Virgina,
Unfortunately, this is a problem with all balsamic and red wine vinegars, so there is no list of safe ones.
Isn’t it a shame!
11. Jamie | April 28th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I live in California and recently found that a small San Rafael based company(O Olive Oil) has started making some excellent California balsamics that I think are delicious and are certified lead-free. We have small children and thought we might have to give up on balsamic dressings. I don’t know if they are available in stores but I have been ordering them over the phone. So, bye, bye Italian balsamic! Has anyone been folllowing the story on Italian olive oil? Yucck!
12. J. Benson | April 28th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Limit: 0.5mcg of lead per day. If that is the legal limit, has anyone posted the lead content in the tablespoon of vinegar it takes to make salad for two? How does anyone get away with stampeding the foodies and not saying precisely how much Pb is under discussion?
Who precisely is responsible for the posting of the signs? No one at Andronico’s was going to say why the signs appeared. In fact, why they first appeared in yellow, perhaps 6″ x 8″, with yellow caution tape around the whole vinegar display! Or why they disappeared a month later, replaced by many signs rhapsodizing about vinegar being “natural”?
Now (4/28) no one at Piazza’s seems to know when or why their signs have appeared.
Methinks someone is amping up his own self-importance without exposing that self to any questioning. No where have I seen an article about this. The SF Chron Food pages had never heard of it until I asked .
What goes?? You could be giving reasonable caution a bad name.
13. Jamie | May 1st, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Talked to folks at my neighborhood Andronico’s. Found the manager surprisingly conversant on the matter. This is what he told me: In 2004 the Environmental Law Foundation of Oakland filed suit against claiming that certain stores, Kroger’s and others, and manufacturers are selling products in violation of Proposition 65, The California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. Specifically, it claims that lead can contaminate wine vinegar in the manufacturing process, and that the highest concentrations are found in Modena-style balsamic vinegar. Beginning 2007 all stores and manufacturers have had to post the presence of lead content either on the product itself or on the premises where it is sold and/or manufactured. How much lead is worth alarm? For my kids, I’d rather know. So for now, I’m not seeing it as a “foodie alarm” more like a health issue for me and my family. Good to have a choice.
14. J. Marr | June 10th, 2008 at 7:37 am
White wines and their derivatives are excluded from this discussion - anyone know why?
15. Gary Johansen | July 4th, 2008 at 10:58 am
As a Calfornian I’m quickly approaching “sticker shock”. Now warnings on some vinegars, tomorrow french fries, potato chips. When the point of satiation is reached all warning signs will be ignored. Perhaps then the signs will be color coded by degree of threat, of course here in California within a short period, by law (and lawsuits) all will be labeled with the red (highest degree of threat) warnings and still ignored.
How about this idea. Tell me how much of the stuff I have to eat in a week or month for it to actually cause damage. If it takes 60 gallons for balsamic vinegar a week to pose a threat to my health – then I’d know to limit my consumption to 58 or 59 gallons a week to mitigate the damage.
Just my thunking on the subject.
16. Stacie | July 7th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
We use Balsamic Vinegar on a weekly/daily bases as our salad dressing, and it wasn’t until this past week that I’ve noticed the ‘Proposition 65′ label on a few of the bottles. Was I just not reading the bottle and missed this important message, that I’m digesting lead? I don’t think so….its seems now the warning is being enforced? What does it mean if the bottle states, ‘Meets CA Prop 65 safety standards’? Is this creative marketing? Also, are restaurants required to post this warning in their restaurant?
17. admin | July 8th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Dear Stacie,
It’s only recently that Californian stores have been required to post this warning, and I have never seen a restaurant posting it. If you have seen a label saying that it meets Prop 65 requirements, I would love it if you’d contact the company directly and ask what this label means. Perhaps California has set some acceptable lead level? Sound like important news on this issue.
18. alleyne hoyt | August 26th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Being a resident of KY and a former resident of IL, I’ve always been impressed with California’s tendency to be ahead of the majority of states when it comes to environmental regulations. Thank you for blogging on this subject. I also will be favoring rice wine and apple cider vinegar in the future.
19. admin | August 26th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Dear Alleyne,
What a kind comment, thank you!
I knew a very wise woman from Kentucky who swore by the healthful properties of apple cider vinegar. She drank a spoon of it mixed with water daily and attested that it was an aid to good digestion.
We are enjoying using the rice vinegar, though we do miss the balsamic. Still, it’s nice to have the peace of mind knowing that we are serving up good health rather than health problems at our family table.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
20. alleyne hoyt | August 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
What is the Italian Olive Oil concern that Jamie refers to in the April 28th posting?
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