I believe the leaves cause severe discomfort if ingested,
but why would you want to eat them ?, Derek.

All plants are poisonousn if you eat the wrong part, or too much. Tomatoes and potatoes are the same genus - if you eat tomato fruits they are beneficial, if you eat potato fruits they are poisonous - the leaves of both are poisonous. They are only poisonous if eaten so, as Derek says, why eat them? If you are worried about pets, then don't. Animals have far more sense than humans when it comes to eating stuff.

There are only a few papers on case studies and they mostly involve goats.

It is listed in a 'Manual of Poisonous Plants' but the list runs to just under 3,000 species so that doesn't mean a lot.

There are much more poisonous plants grown in gardens than Pieris - just don't use the leaves as salad, it's not a food plant, obviously.

Thanks everyone for your response,but I don't want to eat them,,,,,,Someone told me they are harmful to pets and can cause severe skin irritation especially on young children,I was going to get some for the front garden but don't know now.

What the RHS has to say on this is simple "the leaves and nectar (from the flowers) may cause mild stomach upset if ingested". So as long as your kids don't eat the plant, they'll be fine, and teaching kids not to eat plants, ever, without asking (I'm thinking lettuce, which is obviously fine) is a good idea anyway. Bear in mind that over 50% of plants in the average garden are toxic - if ingested, but not otherwise. Others are irritant on the skin, or have irritant sap, and those you might want to avoid (Euphorbia, Oleander, Ruta graveolens to name a few) in case kids crashing through the undergrowth either brush against, or break stems and get the sap on the skin.