Sooo does not Work For Me Wednesday.

I first heard rumors about lead in Rival brand crockpots a week ago on a homeschooling message board.

Yesterday I read about it on blogs.

I am just mad! Don't manufacturers GET IT? We don't want to eat lead. Lead builds up over time and causes neurological problems. Lead is not easily removed from the body.

We don't want to eat lead!

Gah. I have a slow cooker and TWO crocks (I saved my crock from the Day the Crockpot Died and use it as my bread rising bowl). My old crock was a Rival with a white liner, my current working slow cooker is a Euro-Pro with a black liner. Both Made in China (what choice do we have, anyway?)

Rival says their crockpots do not contain lead, and the glaze is a mix of feldspar, silica flour, clay, and some other non-toxic materials. But lab tests done by investigative reporters did find lead.

Clemson Extension has a safety sheet that specifically mentions lead in slow cookers. The FDA knows that slow cookers have lead, but in their tests found it to contain an acceptable level.

Lead, however, is used in some glazes for slow-cooking pots
(crock-pots). But, in tests done in 1987, FDA found that the amount of lead
that leached into food from these pots did not exceed FDA standards. (See An
Unwanted Souvenir: Lead in Ceramic Ware, in the December 1989-January 1990
issue of FDA Consumer.) 

Of course, 1987 was way before lead started showing up in China made toys, food, and dishes on every shelf of the store.

Maybe I'll start buying those plastic slow cooker liners in the interim. Anyone know if they're BPA free?

This blog post has a lot of great comments - many people tested and found lead and arsenic, and others tested and found none.

For some happy tips, check back with Rocks in My Dryer!

Labels: cooking, health, Need to Know, Works For Me Wednesday