Acidic foods such as tomatoes, sauerkraut, fruit, lemonade, fruit punches, carbonated beverages, tea and wine can react with metal in containers and become poisonous. Avoid these and use glass instead:

Zinc: Galvanized metal containers may leach toxic amounts of zinc into the food.

Copper or brass: Makes lemonade, wine, tea, coffee and tomato sauce toxic.

Lead: Traditional pewter contains 25% lead and 75% tin. Many antique ceramics have lead glazes. Avoid using them for serving food. Also be wary of lead crystal.

Excerpted from Organic Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck (Scribner, 2006)