Comments on: The skinny on lead in crock pots – It may surprise you!

By: flyingbird

flyingbird — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:44:42 +0000

This is fantastic. Thank you so much for doing all this work, and sharing your results. You have given me great reassurance!

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 05:24:43 +0000

I haven’t used my Rival Crockpot for fear of lead for two years now. I have been searching for some more answers but never have been able to find anything until now. Thank you so much!!

By: Stacy

Stacy — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 07:20:03 +0000

Thank you so much for doing this research and for posting it!! I did not own a crock pot at the time I brought the local handheld XRF guy to my house (after his visit, all my dinnerware was replaced – starting with the 10% lead vintage earthware!!). I so disappointed to hear about lead in crock pots. I think will go out tomorrow (finally) and buy my first crock pot and then stop by the XRF compamy and have it checked out – just to be sure. I spent hours researching this the other night – everything I read was so inconclusive and incomplete – I gave up on buying one. Thanks Stephanie for sending me this link!

By: admin

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:28:50 +0000

Jill, you are correct that the pot doesn’t always have to be broken to test for leaching. The folks I worked with, however, didn’t have leach testing capability on-site, and as a rule sent just a sample for leach testing at another location, not a whole big crock pot insert.

I will have to do more digging about other contaminants. The original question I got was about lead, so that’s what I focused on. Thanks for letting me know there are other things to check out!

By: jill davis

jill davis — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:24:46 +0000

I had my Rival crock pot tested at a lab where they did a leach test- didn’t have to destroy the pot, just filled it with a solution of something (can’t remember exactly what) and waited for any materials to leach out of the pot. The result was high levels of zinc. The levels of zinc were just barely under the allowable accepted “safe” levels for human consumption–this after 8 years of using that crockpot!

I first became suspicious about leaching when I cooked a broth-based meal in the crockpot. The flavor of the soup was light and this metallic taste came through. I tried the soup again and same thing. This metallic taste never happened with the heavier meals I would cook. The light broth tipped me off. I’ve never used a crock pot since.

So, worry about toxic materials other than lead!

By: Anne

Anne — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:40:36 +0000

Thank you for sharing this information! A neighborhood friend of mine was just telling me that she threw away her crock pots because she heard about the “lead levels”. I started doing some searching around, because I use my crock pot ALL THE TIME. I am relieved to hear of your findings!

By: sheila

sheila — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:07:19 +0000

thk you…10x over..i just purchased a rival black a few mo ago thanks for the effort and diligence..

By: AnneM

AnneM — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:02:31 +0000

Thank you for testing the crockpots yourself. It has greatly eased my mind. I had recently bought a new crockpot to give as a christmas gift to my daughter-in-law. I started wondering (after reading several reports about lead levels) that maybe I was poisening my son and his family. I appreciate all your efforts and the fact that you shared your results.

By: Corrina Milito

Corrina Milito — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:18:06 +0000

I find it so interesting that most, if not all of us, are surprised at your findings, Julie. It seems the critical thinking consumer is always on the ready for disappointment. We expect to be misled and ultimately let down. And I’m glad of it. The suspicious shopper will only force manufacturers to test and disclose and produce more mindful goods. Thanks, Goose!

By: Jess

Jess — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:56:37 +0000

Wow–I’m impressed with how much information you were able to get from the manufacturers. How much time did you spend trying to get informative people on the phone? Having to call companies like Hamilton Beach for product information in the past, I’ve found it is rarely speedy to find someone who actually knows that much about the company’s product construction on the phone. So that said, thanks for the informative leg work, even if you lost your voice. Poor thing!