Plastic Jar for “365” Whole Foods Brand Almond Butter: 195 ppm Antimony

This post is a companion post to several other pieces published earlier. For background and context, please read the two other posts. The overall focus of these posts is that I advise avoiding purchasing nut-butters packaged in plastic jars.

To see all of the related posts, click here.

Below are the XRF test results for the plastic jar of  Whole Foods 365 brand Almond Butter pictured on this post. The test was done on the jar not on the contents.

The specific concern is that there may be a possibility for the toxicants in the jar (in this case, Antimony) to migrate (leach) into the contents of the jar with the heat involved in the packaging process, and possibly with longer term storage of the food product in plastic jars.

XRF Test Result (test duration, 122.3 seconds/2 minutes):

• Antimony (Sb): 195 +/- 24 ppm
• Copper (Cu): 25 +/- 13 ppm
• Nickel (Ni): 24 +/- 9 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 77 +/- 19 ppm
• no other metals detected

Second Reading (127.9 seconds):

• Antimony (Sb): 180 +/- 26 ppm
• Nickel (Ni): 18 +/- 9 ppm
• Iron (Fe): 53 +/- 18 ppm
• no other metals detected

Please note the following points (that may answer some of your questions):

1. Testing is of the PLASTIC JAR not for the contents.
2. The jar was tested with the contents inside.
3. Testing was done on a wooden bench that was tested in advance and found to be free of Antimony.
4. The test results for this jar of Almond Butter were considerably higher in antimony than the test results for the other jars tested.
5. The possible/likely reason these test results are significantly higher than the other plastic jars I have tested is because with this jar I was able to find a bubble with no nut-butter behind it (just air – see photos), so the test is actually a better representation of the level of antimony found in the thick layer of plastic of the jar (because it is not diluted by the dense nut butter behind it – which would presumably have much less antimony, if any.) 
6. The concern is for the possibility of Antimony leaching into the nut butter contained in the jar.
7. Antimony is a possible carcinogen (see below), and the potential carcinogenic impacts on humans via ingestion of trace amounts has NOT been studied.
8. My recommendation is to purchase only product in glass jars when purchasing pre-packaged store bought nut butters (almond butter, sun-butter, peanut butter, etc.)
9. A simple solution (in addition to using glass jars) is to grind your own (either at the store or at home) and store in glass jars.

Click the graphic below for more info on Antimony:

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Also, from Wikipedia:

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As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts.

If you want to directly support this 100% independent consumer goods testing work please do consider making a contribution to my GoFundMe. The XRF instrument that I use for testing generally can cost as much as $750 a day to rent (or more!) and I couldn’t do the work I do without the support of my readers.  GoFundMe.com/LeadSafeMama [I am currently working to cover an outstanding XRF rental bill of about $4,500.]

Thank you again!

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama

*Links to Amazon are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on one of these links I may receive a small percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you.  Links to Kirkland Peanut Butter on Amazon are for informational purposes only – I do not recommend purchasing this product.