FEARS over the link between lead and lower IQs has prompted calls from Government experts for more action to cut the amount of lead eaten through food.

Consumers are being warned to wash vegetables thoroughly to remove potentially contaminated soil and glass-makers are being urged to reduce the lead content of glasses.

A report to Ministers said the average amount of lead people are eating through food was well within safety limits.

It said the amount of lead people were taking in through food had dropped in recent years to around 0.2 milligrams a week, well below the safety level of 1.5 milligrams a week.

However, the report, by the Steering Group on Chemical Aspects of Food Surveillance, said even low levels of lead exposure could damage neurophysiological development, damage blood formation and upset blood pressure.

In tests to measure lead leaching out of glass, levels in red wine rose from 45 to 160 micrograms a litre within four hours and in white wine from 85 to 200 micrograms a litre.

Leaching lead, the report said, was ''an avoidable source of lead contamination in the diet and it is Government policy to reduce exposure to lead wherever practicable''.

The Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF) said levels of lead and other metals were being continually monitored in food, but that overall the findings were reassuring for consumers.

Food Safety Minister Jeff Rooker said: ''I am pleased to see that levels are well below the safety limits.''