USDA Retracts Lead Alert for Walmart Chicken Nuggets

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service has retracted a public health alert for Great Value Fully Cooked Dino Shaped Chicken Breast Nuggets sold at Walmart stores nationwide, determining after further testing that the product contains no elevated levels of lead and poses no health risk to consumers.

The alert, issued on April 1, warned families to check their freezers for the frozen, ready-to-eat nuggets due to initial laboratory results suggesting potential contamination with unsafe levels of the toxic metal. The concern arose from routine surveillance sampling conducted by the New York State Department of Public Health, which detected lead at approximately five times the Food and Drug Administration's interim reference level of 2.2 micrograms for children. Officials acted swiftly because the dinosaur-shaped nuggets, packaged in 29-ounce plastic bags with about 36 pieces each, are marketed toward young children, a group particularly vulnerable to lead exposure.

Lead has no safe exposure level and can impair brain development, leading to long-term neurological and behavioral issues in infants and young children, as well as risks for pregnant...