Mexican bean pots high in lead

CONCORD, Calif., Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Mexican bean pots sold in some California stores were found to have lead levels up to 30 times the maximum allowed by federal guidelines, officials said.

The bean pots have been pulled from the shelves of FoodMaxx food stores, the Contra Costa Times, a newspaper in Walnut Creek, Calif., reported Wednesday.

The bean pots are designed to be used for simmering beans for hours but that can cause lead in the pots' clay and glaze to leach into food, the newspaper said.

"We were shocked when tests came back positive for lead even though the pot was stamped lead-free," the manager of Contra Costa County's lead poisoning prevention program, Joanne Genet, said.

Too-high levels of lead can inhibit children's growth, cause learning disabilities, serious illness and death, Genet said.

FoodMaxx operates 44 stores in northern California and northern Nevada, the Contra Costa Times said.

Contra Costa, Alameda and San Joaquin county laboratories tested the pots when a Concord, Calif., family asked for their FoodMaxx bean pot to undergo a lead evaluation. Health inspectors found high lead levels in each sample, the newspaper said.

The health department said FoodMaxx pots can be returned for a refund.