It isn’t news that ceramics and dishes can potentially be harmful, but it may be something you haven’t considered when shopping for your kitchen. This is something we kept in mind when creating our tableware collection, prioritizing health & safety while staying design- forward.  

Lead and cadmium are two of the most dangerous and common toxins when it comes to dish ware. These heavy metals are used to increase durability, seal glaze, increase brightness of colour and shine creating a beautiful dish to the eyes – but beneath the surface hides serious harm. Say you’re heating up leftovers from take out the night before, traces of lead can leach out and into your food. When ingested, lead accumulates in your body becoming more and more dangerous the more you consume. What does this lead to? A list of health problems that may scare you enough to stop reading here. Yuck.

The FDA and the Canadian GCGR (Glazed Ceramics and Glassware Regulations) state that a regulated level of these toxins is allowed to be used in the production of dish ware, but it is possible to avoid it all together and that sounds like the better option! Something to note as well is that the FDA did not start testing dish ware for safety until the 70s. This means that pretty, vintage china and colourful Pyrex that you picked up at a thrift store or had passed down through your family, is likely going to be high risk and unsafe for use.  

Now that we know what to avoid, let us help you fill those shelves! Our new collection of handcrafted tableware is made in Morocco, using locally sourced clay and only natural, toxin free glaze. At Hudson + Oak we do our best to consider the health and safety of our Earth and reduce our footprint, while providing beautiful, affordable and lasting products for your home. All water used in production of our dish ware is recycled on site making it zero water waste and we ship using 100% post consumer recycled packaging, made right here on the west coast. No pressure, but kind is cool and our tableware is just that. 

We’re not biased or anything. ;)