We know high levels of lead in your blood can be harmful, and recent headlines suggest the heavy metal has gotten into our food supply. In the last 18 months, it’s been found in protein powders, cinnamon, applesauce, lunch kits, and dark chocolate.

There’s a reason for that: Lead is in our food. In fact, it’s unavoidable. “Lead is everywhere. It’s an element, on the periodic table. It is a component of the earth,” said Andrea Love, PhD, a biomedical scientist and founder of Immunologic, a newsletter dedicated to debunking scientific disinformation. “Pretty much any plant or food derived from a plant or even animals that eat plants or drink water, including humans, are going to have measurable but small levels of lead. You can’t escape it if you’re living on this planet.”

Knowledge is your best defense – here’s what the science and the experts say. Lead’s everywhere-ness is nothing new. So, why are we hearing so much about it now? “I think part of it is because people are interested in food,” said Katarzyna Kordas, PhD, an associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health at the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions in Buffalo, New York. “They want to know what they’re eating, and with easier access to laboratory equipment, there are more opportunities to test.”

“Lead is one of the boogeymen burned into our ‘Oh My God, there’s bad things out there’ zeitgeist,” said David Ropeik, a book author, former Harvard instructor, and expert on risk perception. It triggers the same kind of alarm as words like pesticides, radiation, mercury, and DDT, Ropeik said. “What gets left out is the nuance on any of those about dose. There’s no safe dose of lead, but low doses are not as bad as higher doses, and that’s what’s relevant.”

It doesn’t help that Americans’ faith in food safety has plummeted. In a Gallup poll this summer, just over half of respondents had a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence that officials can keep the food supply safe – down from more than two-thirds in 2019. According to an Axios/Ipsos American Health Index poll released in October, 69% of respondents don’t believe FDA assurances that foods containing pesticides or artificial dyes are safe to eat.

According to the FDA, “there is no known safe level of exposure to lead.” High levels in the blood can be dangerous, but researchers haven’t pinpointed an exact threshold. So the message has become: No level is safe. It’s a subtle distinction but one that affects the way people perceive the risk.