Important background points to understand:
- XRF testing is entirely distinct from leach testing.
- XRF test results are not somehow magically negated by leach testing results.
- If a product passes leach testing for metals, that does not somehow magically mean it is “metals-free”; it only means that it passes leach testing for metals at the time of manufacture (or at the time was tested.)
For Context: My original posts with my findings of metals in Xtrema products:
- Here is the original post about these Ceramcor / Xtrema / Mercola pans having Lead from June 9, 2017 – there are more than 140 comments — and the comment thread is actually quite entertaining, so you might like to sit down in a cozy spot with a glass of wine to read that one.
- Here’s a follow-up post from August 2018 in which I shared the full metals breakdown (as detectable with an XRF) for these Xtrema Ceramcor Mercola pots and pans.Metals found included: Lead, Barium, Selenium, Vanadium, Titanium, Tin, Cadmium, Cobalt, Iron, Nickel, Chromium, Bismuth, Manganese, and Zinc.
- Click here for a summary post about the 14 specific metals found – including which were found in the bare ceramic substrate and which were found the black glazed surface.This post clearly explains how it can be reasonably deduced that many of the metals are a significant added ingredient in the glaze and not some alleged “naturally occurring” artifact of the base ceramic — as Xtrema claims.
These posts above ^^^ also discuss at length WHY it is a problem that these pans are positive for metals. The considerations I bring up in the posts linked above are concerns that go beyond whether or not a product passes or fails leach testing – focusing also on the greater environmental impacts of producing products that contain toxicants like heavy metals. The work I do has never been (and will likely never be) about merely determining whether a product passes leach testing.
My work (in the consumer goods arena) is only ever about discovering and disclosing neurotoxic metals detected in consumer goods using XRF technology — so that consumers can have unbiased information (without corporate influence) to use as a basis for making educated choices about what they bring into their homes (taking into account all of the potential environmental impacts of the product throughout its life – from mining to manufacturing reliant on global supply chains to distribution through end-of-life disposal or recycling/reclamation handling — not simply the question of direct immediate impacts of the finished product on the end user and their family.)
Below (at the bottom of this post) is an internal memo (three full pages, leaked to me by an anonymous source) that Ceramcor / Xtrema (pots and pans – also branded by Mercola) sent out yesterday (May 24, 2019) to their affiliate distributors (primarily wellness and cooking bloggers as I understand it) in an attempt to discredit my work because I found Lead in their pots and pans that they have historically sold and heavily marketed as “Lead Free” and “Metals Free”.
They apparently wrote this to try to convince their resellers that my research was incorrect or not science based (to – I guess – try to reassure their resellers that they had not been sucked in to their campaign of false advertising – blatantly selling pans as “metals-free” over the past several years [decade or more?] – when in fact since at least my communications with the manufacturer in 2017, they have known the pans have repeatedly tested positive for more than a dozen metals when tested with an XRF instrument.)
I am sharing this letter Xtrema wrote (below) with you, my readers, today so you can do me the honor (a bit of a favor if you will) of commenting on this post with all of the argumentation explaining why his letter makes no sense. [I know you know the answers and will have reactions!]
If I have a moment later this weekend I may do a point-by-point rebuttal myself (I have my hands full with my kiddos at the moment)… but in the meantime I just have to say thank you to all of the bloggers who have STOPPED selling his “Lead-Free” / “Metals-Free” products since I discovered they test positive for Lead and other metals (using XRF technology, which is a completely valid and accurate scientific testing methodology.)
Bloggers still selling this product and advertising it as Lead Free or Metals Free and therefore bloggers who have been discredited in my opinion in the area of knowledge around Lead and heavy metals toxicity concerns include:
- Wellness Mama (link to her post selling these pans) Here are some screen shots from Wellness Mama’s site (still up as of 5/25/19) as well:
- Debra Lynn Dadd (here’s a link to her post selling Ceramcor) – I must say I have been truly disappointed in her stance on this and some other lead concerns given she generally is level headed and science-based about this issue. Here is a screenshot from her post as well (still up as of 5/25/19) :
Other bloggers reselling these pans, bloggers who appear to understand (based on what they have been told by the manufacturer) that the pans are metals free and who are (often) using that as a selling point in the product reviews for their readers include:
- https://www.kitchenstewardship.com/xtrema-ceramic-cookware-review/
- And another: https://eatwellplease.com/review-xtrema-cookware-ceramcor/
- And another: https://greenopedia.com/xtrema-ceramic-cookware/
- And another: https://mariamindbodyhealth.com/ceramcor-cookware/
- And another (with another screenshot below from this one): https://www.deliciousobsessions.com/2014/04/xtrema-ceramic-cookware-review/(still up as of 5/25/19)
What to do if you are a blogger who has been selling Ceramcor / Xtrema thinking they are metals free:
Bloggers selling his product can correct the problem and set the record straight (and stop enabling/engaging in false advertising) by simply doing the following:
- Remove your product reviews with claims that these products are “metals-free” or “Lead-free” (or simply remove any “metals-free” or “Lead-free” language from these reviews.)
- Write a quick apology post to your readers saying you were misled by the manufacturer – believing (based on his statements) that these products do not contain heavy metals – when, in fact, they do.
- Feel free to emphasize that the manufacturer had apparently confused the scientific distinctions “non-leaching for Lead” and “Lead-free” (and “non-leaching for metals” vs. “metals free”) and it is your understanding that while the pans are non-leaching at the time of manufacture (based on testing provided by the manufacturer) they are not actually “metals-free”.
- If you are one of these bloggers and need help with that communication, please let me know – I would be happy to help you draft something for your readers that will explain the situation.
Lastly, I have been discussing the possibility of a class-action lawsuit against the company (with an attorney who approached me, who handles this sort of thing.) If you are possibly interested in participating in that, please subscribe to my newsletter (so you get any updates about that) and also send me an e-mail noting your interest in participating. TamaraRubin@mac.com.
All Ceramcor / Xtrema needs to do:
While (as of today 5/25/19 – when I just popped over to their site) it looks like the company has removed much of the “Metals-Free” and “Lead-Free” claims from their website (and changed a lot of the language to just specify “non-leaching” – which is a better statement and likely more correctly describes their product) there are still statements on the site that the product “contains no metal, cadmium, lead” (see screenshot at the top of this post) and their affiliates are still actively selling their products (and have old blogs with the previous language) with the assertion that they are “Metals-Free” and “Lead-Free”, as they may not understand that Xtrema/Ceramcor has shifted their language (fairly recently it looks like) on the topic.
So what is left to do for Ceramcor:
- Stop advertising the products as Lead-free and Metals-free (which may have already been done)
- Remove all language from your site that alleges the products are metals-free or lead-free.
- Make sure you communicate with your resellers clearly alerting them that in fact your pans do contain heavy metals (specifically including Lead and Cadmium) and at fairly high levels in some components of the pans, and that they should change the language in their blog posts accordingly.
- Issue refunds to any customers who bought them because they thought they were metals-free.
- Issue a public apology to anyone who bought them (or sold them) expressly because they thought they were metals-free.
OR
- Remove the metals from your pans! 😉 – but still go ahead with points 3, 4, and 5 above to account for previous sales.
Easy peasy!
The fundamental concern with these Xtrema / Ceramcor / Mercola pans:
- The company has historically claimed the products are “metals-free”
- The company has enlisted bloggers as resellers with a foundation of the relationship being the understanding that the products are metals-free. The company used this alleged feature as an important promise (a unique selling proposition) – distinguishing their product from other pots and pans.
- Xtrema then used the reputations and readership base of any affiliate / reseller bloggers (and most important, the important culture of trust bloggers have established with their readers) to sell their products.
- The products (simply put) are definitely not “metals free”, and apparently never have been.
- This has been false advertising — at least since 2017, when they learned of my findings and chose to do almost nothing in response (in terms of possible options like: alerting their customers of the problem, changing the formulation of their products, changing their marketing or language about the products, or issuing refunds or recalls on the products.)
That’s it.
It’s not a question about leaching or not leaching (or bio-availability) of metals.
The big concern right now is a simple question of truth-in-advertising (or the lack thereof) and doing the responsible thing in cleaning up a mess over current / previous / historic communications that have given customers (and bloggers) the wrong impression about the Xtrema products.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Click on the image below of the first page of the letter
in order to see the full three page letter.
My favorite BS remark is about lead being everywhere, even in the air you breathe. No. No it is not. Not unless you are being poisoned. How many bloggers will be misled by this 100% false statement and start repeating it?
I’ll say it again, these pans were my family’s main source of lead poisoning! Luckily I had been following Tamara for years so we were able to find it with her help. Once removing this source our blood levels went down. My youngest was the most poisoned at just a year. Lead poisoning has such long term vast effects. We were long termed poisoned, not all the pans test the same but those red and white labels that easily wear off with time have repeatedly tested in the 1k for lead two of ours were above 10k I believe. When we contacted ceramcor who we directly bought them through they stated they don’t tested that label and it’s outsourced to China. I’m so glad Tamara is continually following this and other makers who lie or lower their standards (like marking glassbaby bottles with lead or welding ss bottles with lead). Sadly ceramcor takes advantage of those wanting to be lead-free my original interests with Tamara’s work lead me ceramcor, because of the lead-free claims, back them now 10 years ago no one had tested them and I believed their claims -then 3 ya we realized we had lead poisoning, tested everything in the house and sent a few to Tamara and found the only significant levels were the pots and pans we used 24/7 because we almost never ate out and made everything from scratchy for every meal.
Thank you for commenting, Katherine.
– Tamara
Hi Tamara,
My sister purchased Dr. Mercola Ceramic cookware because I wanted to try something “healthy “ . When I received the boxes, something inside me said do t open it. So I had it sitting my my home for about almost a month. I’m always reading on health and somehow came upon your website. I read everything about lead in Dr. Mercola’s ceramic cookware and was surprised about how much lead poising is on and in it! I called my sister to ask about returning my cookware and made her be aware of the lead in the cookware. She was surprised since she is Dr. Mercola’s best customer. Anyway, I sent them back last week. So maybe I triggered their upset letter to you? Thank you for all you do to keep us safe!
Thank you so much Patricia! Thank you for commenting.
– Tamara
Tamara,
What cookware do you suggest to use for families who are looking for a safe and non toxic cookware?
Thank you for reporting accurately so we consumers can make good decisions. No intelligent person wants to buy Xtrema once they know it has heavy metals and also that they were lied to about it. How can we avoid lead, if Xtrema and affiliates make false claims? I’m so glad I saw your post before a post on gonewmommy (which seems to recommend Xtrema) and I decided not to buy Xtrema. I am sorry you face so much pressure for what you do, caring about our safety and not selling just something or maintaining the status quo. Thank you.
<3
Patricia,
I bought a huge set of Xtrema’s cookware two weeks prior to finding this blog and learning about the heavy metals risks. I have NEVER used the cookware and still have all the original packaging, but the amount of money they require you to pay to send them back seemed ridiculous. Did you convince them to pay the return shipping? It’s probably too late now anyway (I bought them in early April), but I wanted to at least try if you had success.
Thank you!
~Sharyn
Thank you for this post! I am looking for a 100% ceramic option and this is the only one I’ve been able to find. It’s quite frustrating, I’m trying to choose a healthy brand of cookware but it’s so complicated!! I’ve been happy with my non-stick pans but they need to be replaced and now I’m not so confident the chemicals are safe, do you have any products you can recommend?
Thank you, Tamara, for your work. I could not be more appalled at the deceptive practices of Xtrema. I purchased two stockpots in December 2019 specifically because Xtrema lied to me on their website, and through other bloggers I read, Wellnessmama and others, who echoed their statements. I believed I was making a financial sacrifice to invest in the health of my family. I wrote to Xtrema today asking them to refund me for this purchase, and about 30 seconds later I received their reply consisting mostly of a copy of their previously published attempts to discredit you and XRF testing. Nothing in their reply countered my statements that they DELIBERATELY LIE about their products being free of lead. As of today, May 13, 2020, their website continues to state that their products are “metal-free” and, very misleadingly, that meeting Prop 65 standards means their products are FREE OF Prop 65 contaminants. Although Xtrema wants to discredit you, this blog, and XRF testing, they offer NO evidence that their metal free statements are true.
Thank you for commenting! I got your e-mail too. I will be in touch when things move along in this matter.
T
Hi Tamara,
Thanks a lot for the great detailed ppst about Xtrema cookware.. i was thinking of buying them.
Please suggest the best one in terms of health and safety. I still have non stick which i want to get rid of but not before i buy something similar but non toxic and chemical free. Please reply to my message as im really in need of good pans which should serve as non stick but healthy.
Thanks in advance.
N S
Saved me on time!! Was about to order the Xtrema pan and wok. I wonder specifically why their glaze contains this many metals!
Oh terrific! Good to hear.
– Tamara
I got lucky, purchased a pan, it broke in transit and I had my entire order refunded including shipping! Then found your site.
I recently purchased an Xtrema pot and the instructions that came with it stated, “”Do not soak pots, pans, or skillets in water overnight.” I became concerned because I thought that if a pot is so inert it surely should be able to be soaked in water overnight. I wrote to their customer support and asked if it is okay to store a stew in the pot in the refrigerator. The customer support representative wrote to me and said, ” yes you can put your pot in the fridge with your leftovers. We just don’t recommend soaking or leaving leftovers in your pot for long periods of time on a consistent basis because it may cause pitting from softening clay.” The whole mater baffles me. Why should the clay become soft? This lead me to your website in search of pots that may be the most safe.
Thank you so much for saving me several hundred dollars and potentially some big health issues. I’ll be swapping out my pots and pans for something that has ACTUALLY tested safe. I can’t believe regulations allow corporations to get away with marketing products that way.
Hi Katrina, please check out this post:
https://tamararubin.com/2021/01/i-want-to-buy-some-nontoxic-cookware-which-pots-pans-are-the-safest-for-cooking-which-pots-pans-are-the-least-toxic/
Tamara
I sacrificed to buy some Xtrema Products this year thinking I was doing my family good. Please include me in the suit.
I purchased a tea kettle from extrema and used them for a while. Now, after reading your post, I think that I will stop using it. Thanks for the information. In your post, you mentioned a class lawsuit. What is the progress of the law suit?
I noticed an article from Clean Cuisine.com dated 3/7/22 stating that Xtrema cookware meets all of Prop 65 requirements. Are they now metal free/safe to use, or is this some misleading info.
Hi Tamara,
I have been following you for a few months now. I’m bummed that I bought 2 extrema 2-qt loaf pans to use inside my toaster oven air fryer thing to cook food 🙁 Waste of money. It was also advertised to me by a wellness/medical blogger on instagram. I saw you posted some glass alternatives so I’ll measure and see if they fit in my toaster oven/airfryer. Thanks for all that you do!
Xtreme, Please do better. Make the correct claims on your products and stop the false advertising of metals free. Consumers want the truth so they can make informed decisions about their purchases. That is why XRF testing is so useful ( it is not just for soil testing). Leach testing is different although useful information. Semantics are important when making claims about your products to the public.