Junior Investigator
Science projects usually don’t help FDA find illegal products. But 13-year-old Ilana Edelman’s eighth-grade science project did just that. To thank her, FDA gave her a Junior Investigator Outstanding Achievement Award in July 2004.
For her project, Ilana, then a student at Pikesville Middle School, tested food cans for lead. Selling foods in cans sealed with lead is illegal in the United States. That’s because too much lead can cause serious health problems.
She found that some stores in her town of Pikesville, Md. (a suburb of Baltimore) were selling food in lead-sealed cans. The cans came from other countries. Her discovery led to an investigation by FDA’s Baltimore office. FDA found that several stores in Maryland had illegal lead-sealed cans.
Top Photo: Compliance Branch Director Kirk Sooter gives Ilana an FDA Investigator’s pin.
Large Center Photo: Ilana receives her award from FDA’s Baltimore District Director Lee Bowers.
Bottom Photo: left to right Sherri Miller Edelman (mother), Lee Bowers (Baltimore district director), Ilana, Martin J. Edelman (father), Rebecca Edelman (sister), Stephen King (public affairs specialist), Matthew Henciak (supervisory consumer safety officer)
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