Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s Laboratory Testing Landing Page

ByTamara Posted: Updated:
66 Comments
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Last Updated: May 6, 2025
Background on Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s Community Collaborative Laboratory Testing Initiative

The Lead Safe Mama, LLC (LSM) team has been conducting independent, community-funded, scientific consumer goods testing since 2009. Before 2024, our work primarily focused on testing consumer goods (including dishes, toys, household items, furniture, jewelry, etc.) using XRF technology.

In March 2024, LSM began coordinating independent, third-party, community-collaborative laboratory testing of foods, supplements, cosmetics, and personal-care items. Since then, we have sent more than 400 community-nominated products to laboratories, testing each for Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, and Arsenic down to single-digit parts per billion (ppb) detection levels. You can find our published lab reports for every product we have tested to date through this initiative below (scroll down).

How are products chosen for testing? How is this testing paid for?

This laboratory testing initiative is driven by the interests and priorities of the greater Lead Safe Mama community (we had nearly 2.3 million unique individual readers here on this website in the 2024 calendar year alone and also have a strong social media presence on both Instagram and Facebook).

  • Lead Safe Mama community members nominate products for laboratory testing and then use crowdfunding (including through GoFundMe) to raise the funds needed to cover the costs related to the testing and reporting for each nominated product.
  • This is how the products pictured below were chosen for testing, and how that testing and reporting were paid for.
  • This unique model of community-directed (and community-funded) testing and reporting helps ensure this initiative is truly free of corporate influence and instead, strongly rooted in science (without bias).

Raw, Direct-to-Consumer Data that’s Never Behind a Paywall

Another unique aspect of Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s work: All of our findings (including the raw data/ original lab reports) are always shared publicly (here on the Lead Safe Mama website and our social media), free of charge, and not behind a paywall of any kind. While contributions supporting our work are always welcome, they are not required.

The intention behind the Lead Safe Mama, LLC laboratory testing initiative is twofold: 1) To identify lab-tested safer products, helping consumers make science-informed choices regarding the products they use with their families, and 2) To identify products with egregious levels of toxicants we can then (collectively) report to public agencies (including the FDA) in efforts to get those products recalled.

A foundation of LSM’s work is the understanding (and agreement with scientific and medical consensus) that there is no safe level of Lead exposure for humans and that we (as consumers) should demand companies be held accountable for manufacturing and selling Lead-contaminated products — especially products marketed and sold for use by children (or products marketed for general use that will likely be used or consumed by children).

  • Please check back here — on this landing page — periodically for the latest updates and newly published lab reports. If you prefer to get alerts (via email or social media) when we publish new articles, here are a few options:

This is an ad-free landing page.

Advertising and affiliate income help Lead Safe Mama, LLC cover the costs of the work we do here (independent consumer goods testing and childhood Lead poisoning prevention advocacy). We have removed ads from most of our more widely-read pages and articles (like this one!) to make them easier for you to read. In addition to supporting this work by starting any shopping you might be doing with a click on our affiliate links, if you would like to support the independent consumer goods testing and childhood Lead poisoning prevention advocacy work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC by making a contribution (which will also help us keep our more widely-read articles ad-free), click here. Thank you! You can also support our work with a small monthly gift on Patreon. All our newly published lab reports are first shared on Patreon before we share them on social media.

Each graphic below with a product image is a clickable button that — when clicked — will take you to an article with the full original lab report for the product pictured. There are currently 391 products listed below (with lab reports already published or pending/ to be published shortly). This page is a great bookmark as it is updated nearly every day with newly published reports. Please also check out the Food Testing Index images below to see all of our product categories on this page at a glance.

Other Important Links for Those new to our Website:
1. How to Nominate a Product for Testing
2. Our Budget for Each Lead Safe Mama, LLC Community Collaborative Laboratory Testing Initiative
3. Our Open Campaigns Raising Funds for Additional Testing & Reporting
4. The Lead Safe Mama, LLC About Page
5. Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s In the News Page — with recent press coverage of our work
6. The Lead Safe Mama Website Menu

Click the button below to see the list of 73 Lab-tested Safer Choices we have identified through the Lead Safe Mama, LLC Community Collaborative Laboratory Testing Initiative to date:

Food Testing Index

Section #1) Flours (21)

Section #2) Breads (5/26)

Section #3) Cinnamons (7/33)

Section #4) Prenatal Vitamins (26/59)

Section #5) Children’s Vitamins (18/77)

Section #6) Salt (11/88)

Section #7) Chocolate Candy & Cocoa Powder (19/107)

Section #8) Breakfast Foods & Packaged Breakfast Cereals (24/131)

Section #9) Potato Chips (10/141)

Section #10) Snack Foods — Meat, Plantain, Cassava, Corn, etc. (5/146)

Section #11) Supplements (36/182)

Section #12) Snack Bars & Granola Bars (14/196)

Section #13) Infant Formulas (13/209)

Section #14) Coffees & Coffee Creamers (5/214)

Section #14.a) Teas & Matcha (10/224)

Section #15) Beverages — Soda, Juice, & Non-Dairy Milks (6/230)

Section #16) Dairy Products — Cheese, Milk, & Dairy-Based Snacks (4/234)

Section #17) Crackers (6/240)

Section #18) Cookies (6/246)

Section #19) Fruit Snacks & Fruit Candy (13/259)

Section #20) Pasta & Mac and Cheese (7/266)

Section #21) Beans, Seeds, Nuts, Nut Flours, & Nut Butters (15/281)

Section #22) Rice & Grains (3/284)

Section #23) Fats, Oils, Vinegars, & Sweeteners (15/299)

Section #24) Seaweed Snacks & Nori (4/303)

Section #25) Baby Melts, Baby Puffs, & Puff-Type Snacks (18/321)

Section #26) Baby Food — “Slurries” or Purees (9/330)

Section #27) Personal Care Products & Toothpastes (61/391)

 

 

shop lead free banner

Never Miss an Important Article Again!

Join our Email List

66 Comments

  1. Thank you for putting these all together in one article! In the article photo, you have a picture of a box of Cascadian Farm Purely O’s. But I can’t seem to find a link for that test. Could you please share that? Thank you! All the work you do is greatly appreciated!

    Reply

  2. Thank you for your work. I had been curious about the Harvest Snaps. I eat the red lentil variety most often and wondered if you have plans to test that one.

    Reply

    1. 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.

      Reply

  4. Have you found any baby puffs that are considered “safe” with your testing? I was so disappointed finding out about Serenity Kids because they’re one of the only brands that didn’t have seed oils in their products.

    Reply

  5. Also, do you have any plans to test organic flours? I tend to use Arrowhead Mills organic unbleached all purpose and/or bread flour for my baking and sourdough.
    Thanks!

    Reply

  6. Thank you for all that you do! This cassava flour issue has me so bummed out, but I’m so grateful for the chance to learn through you. Question: is tapioca and arrowroot equally as problematic? If so, Simple Mills products, some of our fave GF options, may have to leave our pantry, too 🙁 …

    Reply

  8. Hi Tamara! Thank you for all you do! Are the test results based on a serving size, or are they based on the entire package?

    Thank you again for your valuable research!

    Reply

    1. Hi.

      That’s not how parts per million or parts per billion works.

      If you have any quantity of an item (a package, a serving size or a teaspoon) and divide that (theoretically) into 1,000,000 equal parts (or a 1,000,000,000 equal parts) – then the ppm (or ppb) is the number of parts of the whole that would be that toxicant (in theory). It’s best not to look at package size or serving size as considerations, but instead compare the ppb levels of the product to the levels of concern / action levels that have been proposed by the medical and scientific communities as being protective of children’s health.

      The 2021 Baby Food Legislation that was proposed (but not passed due to political pushback) set the following action levels (as levels that would be protective of children’s health). “Action level” meaning the level at-or-above which the presence of this toxicant would be concerning in any food consumed by young children:

      2 ppb Mercury
      5 ppb Lead
      5 ppb Cadmium
      10 ppb Arsenic

      This is discussed in detail in this article:
      https://tamararubin.com/2024/03/lead-safe-mama-llc-tested-baby-foods-one-clean-label-project-purity-award-recipient-tested-positive-for-lead-mercury-cadmium-arsenic/

      T

      Reply

  9. That is wonderfully informative (and terrifying) information. It’s such a shame that legislation didn’t pass…or they didn’t have to put Prop 65 labels on these foods… or publicly called out MadeSafe/Clean Label type organizations for their ‘oversight’, etc. I appreciate your advocacy and going to bat for all of us. Your work has been helping me make better decisions for my family. No one would know these things about the products you test if it weren’t for you. Thank you again

    Reply

  11. Hi, where are the links for the active GoFundMe’s? I would like to donate and can’t find where they are. Thank you 🙂

    Reply

  13. Hi!

    Is there a list that includes ALL of the SAFE food products in 1 list?
    It is becoming very overwhelming. I may not be searching properly either!

    Thank you!
    Susan

    Reply

    1. There are only two processed food items that we tested that were non-detect & they are linked above. Here’s another link that may be helpful:

      https://tamararubin.com/2024/06/are-you-suffering-from-snack-paralysis-are-you-concerned-that-all-snacks-test-positive-for-lead-here-are-some-safer-snack-ideas-for-your-kids/

      This might also be helpful:
      https://tamararubin.com/2023/03/my-favorite-organic-coffee-some-of-my-thoughts-related-to-choosing-safer-lead-free-foods/

      And this too:
      https://tamararubin.com/2017/03/which-foods-have-lower-lead-levels-tamaras-food-list-including-foods-we-try-to-avoid-at-all-cost/

      All of these links can be found on the website menu. Section 14 is the food section of the menu (scroll down):
      https://tamararubin.com/website-menu/

      Reply

  14. Good morning,
    Thank you for your work. Is there an overall spreadsheet that could be downloaded that has all of the products that were tested and the results? I could only find separate test results and would find helpful to be able to glance through a whole file.
    Thank you!
    Ana

    Reply

  15. I’m confused. Literally what are we supposed to buy or feed our kids then? According to your testing, almost nothing is safe.

    Reply

    1. Hi J!

      In most of the articles there are links to safer choices.

      Start with this link:
      https://tamararubin.com/2024/07/lead-safe-mamas-landing-page-for-lab-tested-safer-foods/

      And this link:
      https://tamararubin.com/2023/03/my-favorite-organic-coffee-some-of-my-thoughts-related-to-choosing-safer-lead-free-foods/

      And this link:
      https://tamararubin.com/2024/06/are-you-suffering-from-snack-paralysis-are-you-concerned-that-all-snacks-test-positive-for-lead-here-are-some-safer-snack-ideas-for-your-kids/

      T

      Reply

    2. Of course, we should all try to go back to growing our own veggies/fruit for the safest choices. Other than that, ditch all of the grocery store processed snacks and shop local farm organic, making our own recipes with that. Fruits, snap peas, apples, One Degree oats can be used to make snacks/breakfasts….
      It’s alarming for sure.

      Reply

  16. I am shocked by all of these results. I am looking for SAFE chocolate chips, oats for baking, and cocao powder for baking as well. Do you have any recommendations?

    Reply

  17. Excellent research work, practically everything modern is contaminated, so what to eat, what to drink.

    Thank you for this valuable information, now empowered to make better decisions when buying

    Reply

  18. Any recommendations on Baking Powder and Baking Soda products? I was using the Otto’s Baking Powder before and now trying to find a replacement given the cassava lead issue.

    Thank you for all that you do!

    Reply

  19. The testing is a great thing you are doing. But finding the results and data is just chaos that is causing many people to just give up and leave.

    Reply

  20. Hi there! I thought I saw a test of the hiya greens powder but can’t find it now. (Only the vitamins) If so, could you send me the link?

    Reply

    1. We have not tested that product. I would not trust anything from this company in light of their public response to our findings (which are consistent with their internal test results).

      Tamara

      Reply

  21. How do we submit new products to test? There is a specific avocado oil I want to test (and am willing to pay for).

    Reply

    1. Do you want to nominate it for a fundraising campaign? Or cover the full cost? To cover the full cost you can Zelle or Venmo the funds ($550 to cover our cost to rest and report on the testing) to:
      Zelle: 502-702-2708
      Venmo: TamaraERubin (3182)
      –
      To nominate for a fundraiser that others will contribute to – here’s that info:
      https://tamararubin.com/nominate/

      –
      Here’s the budget info if you decide you want to test it yourself (without us reporting on it):
      https://tamararubin.com/budget/
      –
      If you decide you want to cover the full cost, please do email me at TamaraRubin@mac.com so I can follow up with you as soon as we have the results, or text me at 415-609-3182.

      Thank you.

      Reply

  22. On the other side of child raising but compared my Mega Food 55+ vitamins with the two tested from Mega Food to see the base ingredients, which are many. Wish Mega Food would reveal what process(s) or product ingredients cause such dangerous, ingested, “ vitamins”. New bottle heading to the trash bin.

    Reply

  25. I love how you’ve organized and presented all the data collected to-date on this page! I especially like the summary charts showing results for various products of the same category. (The cinnamon chart was especially shocking and depressing.) I know you’ve been working on reorganizing your website and wonder if it may be a reflection of that work. Regardless, I found this page to be very user friendly. And the quantity and diversity of testing that’s been performed is impressive – three cheers for the public advocacy work you are doing and for the entire Lead Safe Mama community funding that work! Thank you also on an individual level as this work has informed choices I’ve made for my family.

    Reply

    1. That list is pinned at the top of the website menu – and is updated periodically.

      Here’s the website menu link (it is also at the top of every page of the website):
      https://tamararubin.com/website-menu/

      Here’s the current update – which has 49 safer choices (we are just about to update it with a few more!):
      https://tamararubin.com/2025/01/49/

      Bookmark the menu and always check back for the updated graphic with a GOLDEN sparkly number on it! Stand by for 52!

      You might also find this page helpful – it has links to several guides for safer choices for foods:
      https://tamararubin.com/food/

      Tamara

      Reply

  27. Thanks again for all of your work on this. It IS appreciated.
    I’ve heard flax seeds are a no-go, but haven’t seen them listed as such on your page. Am I missing it?

    Reply

    1. We haven’t tested them independently yet – but did test these two products which each have Flax seeds:

      Mary’s Gone Crackers:
      https://tamararubin.com/2024/10/marys-gone-crackers-original/

      Flackers (is close to single ingredient so flax sees should likely test similarly)
      https://tamararubin.com/2024/10/flackers-sea-salt-crackers/

      Based on these two data points (and specifically the Cadmium contamination) we are personally avoiding Flax seeds.

      Tamara

      Reply

    1. We are not using XRF testing for this initiative, we are using laboratory testing – with independent, third-party, certified labs that we pay to test these products.

      T

      Reply

  32. It would be helpful if safe toothpastes for adults were also listed. What does Lead Safe Mama use?

    Reply

  33. Am finding it very difficult to find a basic, easy to follow rundown of liquid soaps and their toxic metal levels,
    where is that here at this site????
    Can someone please steer me in the right direction???
    Am FURIOUS with the people at Dr. Bronner, I’ve been using their soaps for years! and want to know if they’re safe,
    clearly their toothpaste is NOT and I’m pissed!!!

    Reply

    1. Hello. We haven’t tested any soaps. I dont have any concerns for Dr. Bronner’s soaps given their ingredient profiles.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *