The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first reported adverse events in children as young as 1 year old in October. The agency has since launched an inspection at a plant in Ecuador that produced the cinnamon-flavored applesauce products.

Jim Jones, the FDA's deputy commissioner for Human Foods, told Politico in an interview published on Dec. 14 that although the investigation is still ongoing, investigators believe the adulteration may have been "an intentional act."

"We're still in the midst of our investigation. But so far all of the signals we're getting lead to an intentional act on the part of someone in the supply chain and we're trying to sort of figure that out," Mr. Jones said.

"My instinct is they didn't think this product was going to end up in a country with a robust regulatory process," he added. "They thought it was going to end up in places that did not have the ability to detect something like this."

The affected products were marketed to parents and children under the brands WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree and Schnucks- and Weis-branded cinnamon applesauce pouches. They were sold nationwide by grocery chains such as Dollar Tree, as well as online retailers such as Amazon.

In its latest update on the lead poisoning outbreak, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it has identified a total of 125 cases from 22 states across the nation.

Of those cases, 46 are confirmed, 68 are probable cases, and 11 are suspected, according to the CDC. So far, all of the children are aged 6 or younger.