Metal shavings were found inside of a toddler’s stomach after they had been fed gummy vitamins for months.
Samantha Anderson noticed small shavings of metal inside of the Zarbee’s Naturals Vitamins pieces when she was separating them.
The Florida mother and her husband then used a magnet on the pieces to see if their suspicions were correct.
They were.
WFLA reports that the parents took their toddler daughter for an x-ray, as she had been eating the branded vitamins for two months.
The test showed a small amount of the metal shavings were inside of her intestine.
“My husband said take a magnet and see if it sticks and sure enough, the magnet picked them right up,” Andersen said.
“I fed these to her. I feel like I have failed. I feel terrible that this metal is in her stomach.”
The mother said that she contacted the company and was told that she could have some coupons.
“Food is mass produced these days and metal machines will break apart and I guess pieces will fall into the production line, but there’s supposed to be people or tools to catch those things,” she said.
Paediatricians have also warned against feeding children gummy vitamins in the past. Not because they may contain metal shavings, but because they tend to contain a lot of sugar.
Dr Natalie Muth said that children could be eating more vitamins than they need, due to their nice taste.
“Kids may be tempted to take more than they need—which can be harmful, especially if the vitamin contains iron, which the body only needs in small amounts.
“Kids associate what is very much like candy as being ‘healthy.'”
Not an ideal situation, to be honest.
