Lead is a naturally occurring element that can be found in the water, soil, and even inside of your home! Ingesting lead can cause a wide variety of health problems, particularly in children and pregnant women. That's one of the reasons the government has set maximum recommended limits on how much lead is allowed in the foods we eat. According to California law, businesses are required to warn customers when the amount of lead in food exceeds .1 parts per million (0.1 ppm).

But figuring out which candies contain lead is trickier than you think. Lead-contaminated candies don't necessarily taste different than normal candies, so regular testing is necessary to tell which candies are safe. And some companies that used to sell tainted candies have cleaned up their products, while others are facing new sources of contamination in certain ingredients.

Most shoppers don't have the benefit of a toxicology report when they choose which products to buy, so they have to use their knowledge about ingredients and candy processing to make educated decisions about what feels safe. Sound difficult? Try it out yourself!

Test your hunches by sorting our pile of candy products into the pink or green grocery cart. Each product's lead value is based on publicly available information provided by the state of California for 2013 and 2014, and may not reflect the most current levels of lead in these products.