For those new to the Lead Safe Mama website:
Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).
- Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
- Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for six product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
- All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
- Please check out our press page to see some of the amazing coverage of our work so far this year!
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Published: June 26, 2024
Wednesday
Good news, Everyone!
- Jovial 100% Organic Einkorn All-Purpose Flour is the very first product we have tested and reported on that resulted in “Non-Detect” for the four metals of concern we are looking at with this testing.
- Here is our affiliate link for the exact product we tested: https://amzn.to/3VYfisj
- What these test results mean is that this product tested “effectively negative” for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, and Arsenic.
- We say “effectively negative” because as with all laboratory testing, there is a “low threshold of detection” the testing is capable of — and with the context of the low threshold of detection for the testing we are completing, this product did not test positive for these four toxic heavy metals.
- While the product could possibly still have heavy metals at trace levels BELOW our lab’s low threshold of detection, it is very important to note that NOT ONLY did this product test non-detect for heavy metals (given our lab’s low threshold of detection), but our lab’s low threshold of detection for the testing on this product ALSO falls well below the Action Levels for toxic heavy metals recommended by the scientific and medical community in the proposed Baby Food Safety Act of 2021.
- The MOST IMPORTANT piece of information to share here (the MOST IMPORTANT outcome of testing this product) is that it serves as SOLID EVIDENCE (clearly-demonstrated scientific evidence) that the proposed Action Levels (included the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021) are ACHIEVABLE. This is useful information in challenging all the food companies (Lesser Evil, Serenity Kids, Cerebelly, and others) defending the unsafe levels of heavy metals that we have found in their “healthy” or “Purity Award-Winning,” and otherwise touted as “safer,” products.
Links to Laboratory Test Reports for Other Flour Products we Have Tested
- Gold Medal All-Purpose Flour
- Bob’s Red Mill Cassava Flour
- Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Flour
- Quay Naturals Cassava Flour
- Terrasoul Superfoods Organic Cassava Flour
- Otto’s Naturals Cassava Flour
Some additional reading & links that may be of interest:
- The Lead Safe Mama affiliate link to purchase the test kits we used for this testing.
- Our landing page with links to all the food test results for products we have tested.
- Here’s how to send your own food samples into a lab for testing (the cost is $195 per single food sample tested for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, and Arsenic) or collaborate with Lead Safe Mama, LLC on the food testing we are doing.
- The Food category of articles here on Lead Safe Mama dot com.
This is great news. I love this product line. Hopefully their cassava products also test in a safer range than the rest of the cassava products do.
they do not 🙁
What?!! I thought their brown rice pasta was ok?
It is at the lab now – we expect it will test positive for Arsenic, but that is just theoretical speculation at the moment.
T
Woohoooooooo! Could not be happier about this, Tamara! Thank you so much!
Fantastic! I bake bread on a regular basis, love this flour! Are you planning to test the whole wheat version too?
This was my question too. I wonder if the whole wheat version could reasonably be expected to test with similar results.
Hello! Thank you for commenting! This is AJ (one of Tamara’s sons). I’m helping my mom answer questions. If you’re interested in nominating a specific product for testing, you can visit this article: https://tamararubin.com/2024/05/how-to-test-food-yourself-via-a-lab-submission-for-lead-cadmium-arsenic-and-mercury/
Scroll down to the “How to sponsor Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s testing of a food product” section for more information. You can also email Testing@LeadSafeMama.com with “FOOD TESTING” in the subject line if you (alone or with a group of friends) are interested in sponsoring the testing of a particular food item.
I am thrilled about this product being safe, but my 87 year old mom and my adult daughter are celiac! The celiac community relies on rice, corn and other alternative flours such as tapioca and lately cassava. I know it sounds easy to say ” just dont eat it”, but GF products commonly have a combination of flours from a variety of GF sources. It is not always easy to avoid, especially when making things like birthday cakes and cornbread.
Thanks for all you do!
Jeanne
Oftentimes even those with celiac can eat this grain. I know sounds crazy but it’s not the gluten that’s causing the destruction but the hybridization of the grain and the chemicals which Jovial Eikorn doesn’t have since it’s an ancient grain. Research it obviously but my celiac son can eat this flour with zero issues.
This isn’t safe advice. Eating gluten containing products isn’t ever safe for people with celiac even if they don’t have an obvious immediate reaction. It still can cause damage to the intestinal lining and lead to many other long term health issues that may not show up right away. Saying this from a caring place and just want to be informative (and as an endoscopy nurse with over a decade experience in GI nursing and as a someone with a sister with celiac.) I have been following these hoping for a safe GF flour option to be able to cook for her with. This may be a safe option for those with gluten sensitivity, but not to those with celiac.
I’ve been using Arrowhead Mills Organic Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour and Barney’s almond flour both GF and supposed to have lower levels of glyphosate . I wish we could get them tested here, Tamara, how do we go about this again?
There is a comment post above dated July 8, 2024 by AJ Rubin that has the link to the testing information. It is right there on this page!
Tamara, thank you for working so hard to get this information to the general public!
Seven years ago, I went to Italy and took jovial foods’ einkorn baking class. Carla was incredibly careful about how she grows einkorn flour. First, it is all grown in Italy. Second, she contracts with a handful of farmers to grow it. It is nutrient dense, because she has them rest the fields for seven years between crops.
Yes, it is possible to make food this way. But it is a labor of love and the company loses money doing so. It’s their gluten-free products that keeps the business afloat.
Wonderful to hear, thank you for your work. My question is- in your experience- would this mean all bags of this flour are non-detect or could it be just this one bag or batch?
I also wonder this, but I also feel like they would hopefully use the same measures for all batches they produce.
Yeh! Thank you!
It’s glyphosate residue free also which is HUGE.
Any idea if organic einkorn grown in the U.S would test? Grand Teton Ancient Grains would be a more affordable option if it tests well.