- Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a letter to retailers and distributors of cookware products to inform them that certain imported cookware products made from aluminum, brass, and aluminum alloys (Hindalium/Hindolium or Indalium/Indolium) demonstrate the potential to leach lead into food and that this cookware should not be distributed or sold in the US market.
- FDA collaborated with the Public Health Department of Seattle and King County (PHSKC), who has tested imported cookware and associated high blood lead levels in resettled refugee populations. Because cooking with these products showed the potential to leach lead into food, FDA states there is potential for the use of these products to contribute to elevated levels of lead in the blood.
- Based on information provided by PHSKC, in March 2022, the FDA added the manufacturer of the cookware, Rashko Baba Co. Ltd., to an FDA import alert in an effort to prevent further sale of these products in the domestic US market. In the spring of 2023, PHSKC was successful in getting some cookware products removed from online retail sites.
- Keller and Heckman will continue to monitor FDA testing and regulation of cookware products.