Vintage Glazed Ceramic Fondue Pot: 255,700 ppm Lead on the interior glaze!!!! Vintage Fondue pots should never be used for food use purposes.

Published: April 28, 2017
Updated: August 18, 2021

Vintage Ceramic Fondue Pot:

• Interior cream colored glaze 255,700 ppm Lead !!!!!
• Bare unglazed ceramic (on base of pot) was 38 ppm Lead.
• Black exterior: 62,400 ppm Lead.

Not safe for food use! (How much Lead is too much Lead?)

Given the usage and age of this particular item, I would not consider it safe for food use. For context, newly manufactured items intended for use by children need to (ideally) test negative for Lead or – to comply with all current regulatory standards – to at least come in at “less than 100 ppm Lead” in the substrate of an item (in this case the bare unglazed ceramic) or “less than 90 ppm Lead” in the paint, glaze or coating of an item. Food-use items (pots, pans, dishes, mugs) are generally not considered to be “items intended for use by children” and thus are not regulated as such – but should be (because children eat food prepared in [or served on] these items too!) Vintage items are also not regulated for total Lead content. What is vintage? – link

Especially given the nature of how a fondue pot is used (the chocolate, cheese or oil normally sits in the pot for hours as it is warmed / kept warm) there is a definite concern for the potential for toxicants (Lead or Cadmium) to leach into the food when vintage fondue pots are used as intended.

1. Please read this post to learn more about the concern for Lead in food-use items.
2. Please read this post to learn more about the testing methodology used for tests reported on this website.
3. To see more fondue pots that I have tested, click here.

• Please check out the ShopLeadSafeMama.com website for safer choices for your family.
• Here’s a link to a fondue set on Amazon that is likely to be Lead and Cadmium free.

Tips for Lead-free / Lead-safe fonduing…

1. Avoid any and all vintage fondue sets.
2. Specifically avoid fondue sets with plastic or rubberized components.
3. Avoid glazed ceramic fondue pots.
4. Avoid enamel coated metal fondue pots.
5. Look for fondue sets with primarily stainless components (clear glass vessels are good too if you can find them.) 

As always, thank you for reading and for sharing my posts. Please let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them personally as soon as I have a moment.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

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