Which everyday foods and cookware can contain lead?

Spices. Lead reaches spices from soil, processing and deliberate additives, and lead chromate, a yellow pigment, has been added to some turmeric⁷. Of 356 turmeric samples from 23 cities in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, 14 percent had over 2 micrograms per gram and some had over 1,000⁷. In New York City health department tests of 1,496 spice samples from 41 countries, more than half had detectable lead and over 30 percent exceeded 2 ppm. Spices bought abroad had the most, with the highest levels in spices bought in Georgia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Morocco¹.

Cinnamon applesauce. In 2023 routine blood tests of children led to a recall of cinnamon applesauce pouches, and lead in the cinnamon was the source. By April 2024, 566 cases had been reported in 44 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico, 55 percent in children under 2. The median highest blood lead was 7.2 micrograms per deciliter⁴. The FDA continues to monitor ground cinnamon⁸.

Cookware. Aluminum cookware made locally from scrap metal can release lead. Of 42 aluminum items from ten developing countries, 15 released at least 1 microgram of lead per serving, and one pot released 1,426 micrograms². In U.S. tests, one hindalium pan and one brass cookpot each leached over a thousand times the childhood dietary limit, while stainless steel leached much less⁹. In December 2024 the FDA told retailers not to distribute such imported cookware⁸.

Pottery and glazed ceramics. Lead in a glaze can leach into food, especially acidic food³. The FDA's problem types are handmade, antique, worn, flea-market or street-vendor pottery and pieces decorated in orange, red or yellow, and no washing or boiling removes lead¹⁰. Rice cooked for 30 minutes in lead-glazed Mexican pots reached 1.27 ppm lead, about 2.5 times Mexico's limit, while lead-free glazed pots released little³. See ceramic cookware.

Chocolate and protein powders. Cocoa beans carry very little lead, but finished cocoa and chocolate products reached up to 230 and 70 nanograms per gram in one study, mostly from processing and shipping¹¹. A risk assessment of protein powders concluded that typical use would not cause adverse effects, though "mass gainer" products came closest to the limit¹². For cadmium, see cadmium in food.

Why small amounts matter. In a pooled analysis of 1,333 children, IQ fell 3.9 points as blood lead rose from 2.4 to 10 micrograms per deciliter, with the steepest drop at the lowest levels⁶. The CDC reference value of 3.5 marks the top 2.5 percent of U.S. children aged 1 to 5; it flags who needs follow-up and is not a safe level⁵. See lead in water.

Spices. Hore and colleagues analyzed 1,496 samples of more than 50 spices collected from 2008 to 2017 during lead poisoning investigations and store surveys, a group that was not random. More than 50 percent had detectable lead, over 30 percent had more than 2 ppm, and spices bought abroad averaged significantly more than those bought in the U.S.¹. Forsyth and colleagues bought 356 turmeric samples (180 dried roots, 176 powders) in 2020 and 2021. Fourteen percent (51 samples) had lead above 2 micrograms per gram. Those at 18 or more had lead-to-chromium ratios near 1:1, suggesting lead chromate, and samples above 1,000 micrograms per gram in Patna, Karachi and Peshawar projected child blood lead levels up to 10 times the CDC threshold⁷.

A food-borne outbreak. In October 2023, routine pediatric testing in North Carolina found four asymptomatic cases, and the FDA identified lead, then chromium, in the cinnamon. A national call for cases (blood lead of at least 3.5 micrograms per deciliter within three months of eating a recalled product) found 566 cases in 44 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico. Some cases had symptoms around the time of exposure, and the median highest venous blood lead was 7.2 micrograms per deciliter, ranging from 3.5 to 39.3⁴. Most levels were modest, but the range shows that one contaminated product can poison hundreds of children.

Cookware and pottery. Weidenhamer and colleagues boiled 42 aluminum items from ten countries with dilute acetic acid for two hours. Fifteen released at least 1 microgram of lead per serving and 10 released over 1 microgram of cadmium. Coating the cookware cut aluminum release by more than 98 percent, with similar reductions for other metals². Fellows and colleagues tested 28 more aluminum pieces and 5 brass items by X-ray fluorescence and leaching. Many aluminum items contained over 100 ppm lead, a hindalium appam pan exceeded the childhood limit by 1,400-fold, one brass cookpot by over 1,200-fold, and 17 stainless steel items leached much less lead⁹. Cantoral and colleagues analyzed 13 ceramic pieces. Lead-glazed pots contained a median of 202,400 ppm lead on the inner surface, and modelling predicted blood lead 11 times higher from rice cooked in them than in lead-free glazed pots, a median 1.6 micrograms per deciliter increase. That is a model from 13 pieces, not measured blood levels³.

Chocolate and protein powders. Rankin and colleagues found beans from six Nigerian farms at 0.5 nanograms per gram or less, but cocoa products up to 230 and chocolate up to 70 nanograms per gram, with isotope patterns pointing to contamination during shipping and manufacturing¹¹. Bandara and colleagues modelled consumers of the protein powders that Consumer Reports and another group had flagged. With one or three servings a day, the hazard index stayed below 1 and modelled adult blood lead stayed below 5 micrograms per deciliter, mostly from background exposure¹². The difference between "exceeds a product limit" and "poses a health risk" explains the conflict, and the modelled figures depend on assumed servings.

Health effects. Lanphear's pooled analysis of seven cohorts found a 6.9-point IQ deficit across blood lead from 2.4 to 30 micrograms per deciliter, and the effect was greater in children whose maximum stayed below 7.5⁶. The FDA states there is no known safe level of lead exposure and in January 2025 issued final lead action levels for processed baby food⁸.

What conflicts or is missing. Spice and cookware surveys come from investigations and convenience samples, so they show what can be found, not how common it is. Detectable lead is not the same as harmful lead. Few studies link a specific food to a person's blood lead, and the studies cited here are observational or laboratory-based. The protein-powder and chocolate results are the least settled.

Bottom line (strong confidence). Lead in these items is well documented, harm at low levels is established, and the highest exposures trace to specific, avoidable products. How much a typical household gets from them is less certain.

Swaps, ranked by evidence

1. Stainless steel instead of imported aluminum or brass cookpots (direct leaching tests plus an FDA action).^9,2,8
2. Commercial or lead-free glazed dishes instead of traditional lead-glazed pottery for cooking and serving (leaching tests, FDA guidance).^3,10
3. Spices from regulated retailers, especially turmeric (survey evidence).^1,7
4. A blood lead test for children and exposed adults, and checking recalls (surveillance data).^5,4
5. Brand variety for chocolate and protein powder (risk assessments, least certain).^11,12