Researchers even suspect it has been linked to upwards of 1.4M deaths in children in SE Asia. Bangladesh cracked down on the problem, but it seems to still exist in India.
Who knows what I the hell you’re buying from ethnic stores? Spices are also sold by weight, so spiking with dense adulterants like lead is an easy way to boost profits. After reading this, I’d never buy ground turmeric powder that’s made abroad ever again. This also makes me scared to eat anything with turmeric at restaurants, because you don’t know where they’re buying it from. We can probably guess they’re using the cheapest sources possible for spices like turmeric rather than freshly ground.
Just terrible:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240217105326/https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/11/02/how-to-stop-turmeric-from-killing-people