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By Parija Kavilanz and Sandee LaMotte, CNN
NEW YORK — The school cafeteria versions of popular kids' grocery store snack kit Lunchables is packed with too much sodium, a consumer watchdog group warned on Tuesday.
Lunchables developed two new versions of the snack kit specifically to be available nationally as part of school lunch programs for the first time last year. A new report from Consumer Reports said it recently compared the nutritional profiles of two Lunchables kits served in schools and found they have even higher levels of sodium than the Lunchables kits consumers can buy in stores.
Consumer Reports said sodium levels in the store-bought lunch and snack kits it tested ranged from 460 to 740 milligrams per serving, or "nearly a quarter to half of a child's daily recommended limit for sodium." The group found that sodium levels in the turkey and cheddar school versions of Lunchables contained 930 mg of sodium compared to 740 mg in the store-bought version.
Consumer Reports said it tested 12 store-bought versions of Lunchables and similar ready-to-eat meal kits, including from Armour LunchMakers, Good & Gather, Greenfield Natural Meat Co. and Oscar Mayer, and also found lead, cadmium, or both in all, although none of the kits exceeded any federal limit. The testing also revealed high levels of sodium in the other lunch kits.
Cadmium has been linked to kidney and bone disease and cancer, according to the World Health Organization. As natural elements, heavy metals such as lead and cadmium are in the soil in which crops are grown and thus can't be avoided. Some crop fields and regions, however, contain more toxic levels than others, due to pollution and mining.
There is no safe level of lead for children, however, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Consumer Reports' tests also detected at least one type of phthalate or phthalate replacement chemical in every kit it tested, except for Lunchables Extra Cheesy Pizza, it said. Lead and cadmium can cause developmental problems in children over time, even in small amounts.
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