Popular Veggie Chips Contaminated With Toxic Metal May Cause Serious Illness: CA Officials

Health officials in California are warning consumers not to eat certain vegetable-based chips after tests found they contain elevated levels of a toxic metal that can cause serious illness.

Consumers should avoid certain products from the Brad’s Plant Based brand — which include kale chips and other vegetable-based snacks — because they contain elevated levels of thallium, according to the California Department of Public Health.

The snacks are sold at major retailers in California and elsewhere, officials said.

"The manufacturer was asked to voluntarily recall the products and, to date, has refused to remove these products from the marketplace," officials said.

The CDPH said laboratory tests revealed elevated thallium levels in the following products:

• Brad’s Crunchy Kale Original
• Brad’s Crunchy Kale Vampire Killer
• Brad’s Balsamic Salad Snack
• Brad's Ranch Salad Snack
• Brad’s Crunchy Kale Cheeze It Up
• Brad’s Crunchy Kale Nacho
• Brad’s Crunchy Kale Radical Ranch
• Brad’s Veggie Chips Kale

Thallium is a naturally occurring trace metal that can be present in soil. Consumers are most likely to exposed by eating fruits in vegetables grown in such soil.

It's uncommon, but very high levels of thallium in foods may result in hair loss, numbness and pain in the feet and hands, gastrointestinal effects and heart problems, according to state health officials.

The impacted Brad's products are distributed from Pennsylvania and labeled as being a product of Mexico. State officials are working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the state of Pennsylvania to investigate.

"Consumers are advised to avoid eating any products containing kale from Brad’s brand because of the elevated levels of thallium detected across several tested lots," state officials said.