The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers about 19 types of cookware that may contain lead, increasing the risk that the toxic metal could wind up in people’s food. 

Consumers should check whether they have the items in their homes, and throw them away if they do, the FDA said in an alert posted on its website. 

“Do not donate or refurbish this cookware,” the agency noted.  

The suspect cookware, all manufactured outside the U.S. and mostly in India, is made from aluminum, aluminum alloys and brass that have been tested by the FDA and state agencies, with the results showing that they can leach lead into food.

The FDA’s warning expands on its August alert about the cookware, with the agency adding nine products to its list of items to discard due to the risk of lead exposure. 

Lead poisoning can lead to symptoms including abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, appetite loss, memory loss, and pain or tingling in your hands or feet, among other issues, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children are especially sensitive to lead, which can damage their brains and nervous systems, slowing their growth and development, the agency says.

Women of childbearing age and new mothers who are breastfeeding their infants are also at risk for lead poisoning, the FDA notes.

Below are the cookware products the FDA says should be discarded, along with the manufacturer or distributor when that is specified. The items were sold by a handful of retailers in states including California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and New York, as well as Washington, D.C. The FDA didn’t specify if the products were sold more widely, but noted that other items could be added to its alert.

• Sonex aluminum pot (Manufacturer: Sonex Cookware)
• IKM aluminum saucepan, size 2 with a 9″ wooden handle (Manufacturer: JSM Foods)
• IKM 4-quarter pital brass pot (Manufacturer: JSM Foods)
• Brass tope (Manufacturer: Kraftwares)
• Aluminum kadai size 5 (Distributor: Lotus Mom)
• Silver Horse aluminum caldero 28
• Silver Horse aluminum degda 24
• Silver Horse aluminum degda 20
• Silver Horse kadai 26
• Silver Horse aluminum milk pan 4
• Chef Milk pan, 24 centimeters (Distributor: Shata Traders)
• Aluminum hammered kadai, size 7 (Distributor: Indian Cookware & Appliance 
• Brass pot (sold at Santos Agency)
• Dolphin brand aluminum saucepan
• 2-quart aluminum saucepan (Distributor: Win Chong Trading Corp.)
• 3-quart aluminum saucepan (Distributor: Win Chong Trading Corp.)
• Royal Kitchen cookware, milk pan size 3 (Distributor: New Reliance Traders)
• Tiger White kadai 
• JK Vallabhdas aluminum kadai (Grain Market)

A kadai is a type of wide pan used in South Asian cooking, while a degda is a type of pot often used to cook rice. A tope is another type of pot used in South Asian cooking.

The FDA urged retailers and distributors to contact the agency with any questions about the safety and regulatory status of any products they sell that are used to prepare food. Contact the FDA at premarkt@fda.hhs.gov.

Edited by

Alain Sherter

Maintaining the safety of our food

More than 100,000 kitchen faucets have been recalled because they could lead to dangerous levels of lead exposure according to three separate notices posted Thursday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

Three different faucets models, manufactured in China and sold under the brands Vfauosit, Kicimpro and Basdehen, were determined unsafe after tests revealed they contain lead that could leak into the water supply and cause harm to young infants and children. No injuries have been reported thus far.

Lead ingestion can “cause harmful neurological effects on infants and young children, including attention-related behavioral problems, decreased cognitive performance and lower IQ,” the CPSC says in the recall notices.

The recalled faucets were sold for roughly $40 on Amazon.com between January 2024 and May 2025 by vendors Whisper08, Kicimpro and Chenfeng Store. The recalls, issued on May 29, affect an estimated 103,000 products. Amazon and two of the vendors are contacting known customers who purchased the items directly to notify them of the recall.

Consumers with the faucets are advised to stop using them immediately and to reach out to the vendor for a refund. Consumers will have to provide a photograph of disposal to get their money back, all three vendors state in their respective recall notices.

“Until these faucets can be replaced, consumers should only consume water from the faucets after running the water for 15 seconds,” the CPSC advises.

Affected products:

• VFAUOSIT Kitchen Faucets; model number 06BNV; pull-down sprayer, brushed nickel, stainless steel modern, high-arc, single-handle, single-hole, pull-out kitchen faucet for bar, laundry, RV utility sink; 29,000 units
• KICIMPRO Kitchen Faucets; model number KM800-01-06BN; pull-down sprayer, brushed nickel, high-arc, single-handle sink faucet with water lines, commercial modern RV stainless steel, grifos de cocina; about 50,000 units
• BASDEHEN Kitchen Faucets; model number CFDTTH-000-YGH; matte black single-handle kitchen faucets with 360° swivel, spring spout design, detachable spray, optional mounting plate and single-hole installation; about 24,000 units

Customers can identify if they have a recalled product by searching their Amazon purchase history for the name of the product, “Vfauosit” for example, along with “kitchen faucet.” 

Mary Cunningham

Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. Before joining the business and finance vertical, she worked at “60 Minutes,” CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is for the first time setting guidelines for levels of lead in processed baby foods such as jarred fruits and vegetables.

Part of an effort to reduce exposure to a toxic metal that causes developmental and neurological issues in children, the action announced on Monday offers only voluntary — not mandatory — limits for food manufacturers. But the agency can take enforcement action if it finds foods that surpass its recommended limits.

The FDA guidance caps lead levels for children younger than 2 at 10 parts per billion for fruits, most vegetables, grain and meat mixtures, yogurts, custards and puddings, and single-ingredient meats. It sets a limit of 20 parts per billion for single-ingredient root vegetables and for dry infant cereals. 

The directive covers packaged processed foods sold in jars, pouches, tubs or boxes. By contrast, the new limits don’t cover grain-based snacks like puffs and teething biscuits, despite some research indicating the products have higher levels of lead. It also doesn’t limit other metals like cadmium that have been found in baby foods.

“FDA’s actions today are a step forward and will help protect children,” said Thomas Galligan, a scientist with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “However, the agency took too long to act and ignored important public input that could have strengthened these standards.”

Between October 2023 and April 2024, more than 560 children fell ill after consuming lead-tainted apple cinnamon puree, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The amount of lead detected in those products were more than 2,000 times higher than the FDA’s maximum allowable limit. 

Exposure to lead in utero, infancy and early childhood can lead to harmful neurological effects like learning and behavior disabilities and lowered IQ. For adults, chronic lead exposure is linked to kidney dysfunction, hypertension and neurocognitive effects.

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.

CHICAGO (CBS) — A disturbing study finds two-thirds of children under the age of 6 are estimated to have been exposed to lead through their drinking water.

The study also found that predominantly Black and Latino populations were disproportionately less likely to be tested for lead but also disproportionately exposed to contaminated drinking water.

The study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, found that 68% of children 6 and under in Chicago – a total of 129,000 –  have been exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water. The study also found that 19% of those children use unfiltered tap water as their primary source of drinking water.

Investigators used a retrospective assessment of lead exposure based on 38,385 household lead tests collected from January 2016 until September 2023. The information was publicly available from Department of Water Management records.

The study said machine learning and microsimulation were used to estimate childhood lead exposure citywide.

The study defined water to be contaminated if most of the tests within a census block had 1 part per billion or more lead concentration on the second draw. This value was chosen because no amount of lead in drinking water at all is considered safe and because one ppb is the limit for detection in lead water tests.

The study warned that increased blood lead levels in children can cause cognitive development deficits and other health hazards.

“The impact of low-level, long-term exposure to lead-contaminated drinking water may not be easily identifiable at the individual level,” the study said. “Instead, it could cause population-level increases in adverse health outcomes, such as lower population-level mean IQ or increased preterm births, underscoring the need for reduced exposure to lead-contaminated drinking water.”

The study also concluded that Black and Latino households disproportionately drink bottled water, while white households disproportionately drink tap water. However, the study emphasized that bottled water is not necessarily less contaminated with lead than tap water – as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sets the lower limit for lead in bottled water at five ppb. The study also found that using filtered tap water doesn’t necessarily prevent lead exposure either.

“The racial and ethnic disparities present are indicative of the myriad ways environmental racism can manifest. Lower screening rates, lower consumption of tap water, and higher levels of lead exposure among predominantly Black and Hispanic blocks may indicate mistrust toward water sources or lack of community engagement from relevant authorities,” the study said. “Neighborhoods with high-risk estimates as well as low screening rates were largely clustered in the South and West sides of the city, corresponding to the city’s geographic history of segregation and disinvestment.”

Benjamin Huynh, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is the study’s lead author. He reemphasized that no amount of lead in water is safe.

“The goal is to have zero lead in water at all,” Huynh said, “and we know from the science that even small amounts of lead in the water can impact your child.”

However, Huynh also noted that the study’s findings should not draw comparisons to high-profile water crises of relatively recent years.

“I don’t think we need to be alarmist,” Huynh said. “It’s not as bad as the Flint crisis. Your kid’s not going to be hospitalized from the levels of lead that we’re seeing. But yeah, I think there’s some concern – because even these low levels of lead, these are things that can affect your child without you noticing.”

In addition, exposure to lead-based paint dust remains the overwhelming source of elevated blood levels in children in Chicago. This is why the Chicago Department of Public Health has invested in robust lead-based paint and dust inspection and mitigation, especially in communities most impacted.

In a statement, the Chicago Department of Water Management has said it took issue with the study’s sampling – saying it only indicated whether or not there is a lead service line, not routine exposure.

The city also said lead testing shows the water meets the standards of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Chicago has 380,000 lead service lines. City officials estimate that replacing all of them will cost up to $9 billion.

On Tuesday, the Department of Water Management reiterated that it has introduced five programs to remove the city’s lead service lines and offers its residents free water testing.

This past November, the Biden administration announced a $336 million low-interest loan for Chicago through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act to replace up to 30,000 lead pipes.

Elizabeth Chin of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Mathew Kiang of the Stanford University School of Medicine also authored the study.

An artificial intelligence-assisted study found that 70% of Chicago children under 6 years old are exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water. Charlie De Mar reports.

Authorities in Ecuador have named a suspect in their investigation of now-recalled lead-tainted applesauce, which has been linked to poisonings of more than 400 Americans across 43 states, the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday — but U.S authorities have “limited authority” to take steps against him.

Ecuador’s authorities allege that Carlos Aguilera, a cinnamon grinder in Ecuador, is “the likely source” of the poisonings, the FDA said in an update, noting that the investigation by the Agencia Nacional de Regulación, Control y Vigilancia Sanitaria and legal proceedings to determine responsibility for the contamination are still ongoing.

U.S. authorities have said for months that they suspected that the lead poisonings could be intentional, saying one of the theories they were pursuing was that it was the result of “economically motivated adulteration” of the cinnamon used in the applesauce.

“FDA’s investigation is ongoing to determine the point of contamination and whether additional products are linked to illnesses,” the agency said in its statement.

Other spices, such as turmeric, have been intentionally tainted using lead and other substances in the past, by sellers looking to hide defects in their products or otherwise inflate the amount of money they can make.

Testing of cinnamon sticks that Aguilera had sourced from Sri Lanka but not yet processed were tested by Ecuador and were not contaminated with lead, the FDA said. 

The FDA previously said that ground cinnamon supplied from Ecuadorian distributor Negasmart, which ended up in WanaBana’s applesauce, tested for levels of lead and chromium contamination at “extremely high” concentrations far above what experts think is safe. 

In December, the FDA cited WanaBana for failing to test its cinnamon applesauce pouches for heavy metals. The agency said the applesauce maker should have taken steps to mitigate the risk that cinnamon it was buying for its pouches could be tainted with lead and other toxins.

But the agency has also stopped short of definitively describing the lead poisonings as intentional, as opposed to the result of an accident or environmental contamination.

Last year, FDA officials said its probe of the then-unnamed grinder suspected to be behind the poisonings had been hampered by limits to their jurisdiction in Ecuador. 

“The FDA has limited authority over foreign ingredient suppliers who do not directly ship product to the U.S. This is because their food undergoes further manufacturing/processing prior to export. Thus, the FDA cannot take direct action with Negasmart or Carlos Aguilera,” the FDA said in its Tuesday update.

It is unclear what direct action the FDA would otherwise take, if Aguilera had been a supplier within its jurisdiction. It is also not clear what other theories the FDA is pursuing for why Aguilera’s ground cinnamon was tainted with lead.

An FDA spokesperson was unable to immediately provide a response to a request for comment.

“My child’s favorite snack”

At least 413 cases of lead poisoning have been linked by health departments to the recalled applesauce pouches, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The agency previously said most reported cases had been in young children, with the median age of cases at around two years old.

Complaints filed by parents with the FDA, obtained by CBS News through a Freedom of Information Act request, say that some children had been consuming multiple pouches daily of the cinnamon applesauce before the recall.

“I can’t believe something so toxic that’s geared towards babies, toddlers, and young children fell through the cracks and now has affected my child and others,” one person wrote, after they said their daughter had consumed the pouches.

The 2-year-old’s lead levels tested as high as 25.4 deciliters per microgram, the complaint said, far beyond the thresholds when the CDC urges parents and doctors to take steps to address lead poisoning.

The CDC warns young children are especially vulnerable to the array of serious long-term harms caused by lead poisoning, including damage to the brain and nervous system. 

“So sad to lose complete faith in a company that was once my child’s favorite snack,” they wrote.

The manufacturer behind now-recalled cinnamon applesauce pouches failed to ever test its product for heavy metals, the Food and Drug Administration found in a recent inspection, among several shortfalls by the plant now linked to hundreds of lead poisonings nationwide. 

The FDA’s citation, outlined in a document obtained by CBS News through a freedom of information request, comes from a December inspection of a fruit puree factory in Ecuador run by Austrofood S.A.S. 

Austrofood is the company behind the WanaBana brand cinnamon applesauce, as well as batches from store brands Weis and Schnucks that were also recalled, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says has been linked by state and local health authorities to at least 385 cases of lead poisonings across the U.S. 

Many cases have been in very young children, who are especially vulnerable to the long-lasting developmental delays caused by lead poisoning, the CDC has said.

Lead poisoning cases in 42 states 

A total of 42 states have now reported at least one case of lead poisoning in someone who recently consumed one of the recalled products. Cases have continued to mount in recent weeks, as health departments have linked previous lead poisonings dating back to last year with the product.

“The increase in case counts reflects newly reported cases, for which the time of applesauce consumption varies. There is still ongoing outreach to find new cases at this time, and communication efforts to spread awareness of the dangers of these products are focused on preventing future exposures,” a CDC spokesperson said in a Jan. 19 statement.

The FDA says the company failed twice, when analyzing the process for producing its applesauce products, to draw up plans to mitigate the risk that the cinnamon it was buying might end up contaminating its products.

“In addition, you did not sample and test the raw material or the finished product for heavy metals. Furthermore, sampling conducted by FDA in the United States identified [a] high level of lead in finished products,” the agency’s inspectors said.

Other issues the FDA found at the plant included shortfalls in its pasteurization and sanitation procedures. Austrofood was also cited for “numerous rough edges, chipped, and pitted areas” on one of its equipment that could break loose and end up in its products.

The FDA previously inspected the plant once before in 2019, FDA records show, which at the time did not result in any citations to the company.

A spokesperson for WanaBana did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Extremely high” lead levels

While health officials have worried for years over the risk of higher-than-optimal lead levels making its way into baby food, the FDA said last year that the “extremely high” lead levels found in WanaBana’s cinnamon applesauce products was on a different scale. Concentrations of lead found by investigators in North Carolina from testing of the applesauce “could result in acute lead toxicity.” 

Another potential worrying metal — chromium — was also reported earlier this month in testing of Austrofood’s cinnamon and the recalled pouches. 

That could be the result of lead chromate, the CDC and FDA said. Lead chromate has been used by manufacturers in other countries to hide quality issues with their spices, leading to both chromium and lead poisoning.

The agency said last year it was investigating whether the lead was intentionally added to the cinnamon supplied to Austrofood for economic gain, but has stopped short of confirming this was the cause. 

An FDA spokesperson was not able to immediately respond to CBS News’ request for comment, when asked why the FDA has so far been unable to conclude whether the cinnamon was intentionally contaminated.

Officials have previously cited limits to their jurisdiction in their investigation of the lead contamination in Ecuador. 

While the agency was able to conduct an inspection at Austrofood’s factory, probing others in the supply chain — like the distributor and supplier suspected to be behind the lead contamination — required the help of authorities in Ecuador.

The FDA has also previously disputed statements by Ecuador’s health authorities about the recall, after the country suggested other not-recalled WanaBana products might also be contaminated.

“FDA has no indication that this issue extends beyond these recalled products and does not have any confirmed reports of illnesses or elevated blood lead level adverse events reported for other cinnamon-containing products or cinnamon,” the FDA said in an update published Jan. 23.

Wanabana, one of the companies that has recalled applesauce pouches due to lead contamination, is facing a possible class action lawsuit over the tainted products. Meg Oliver reports.