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!
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 five 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!
Published: June 17, 2024
Original version published on Instagram, April 2024
In response to the laboratory testing that we (Lead Safe Mama, LLC) have been doing on popular packaged (processed) snack foods parents often feed their children today — and especially given the test results for many of those products (you can see those results here), people keep asking what I personally feed my kids for snacks…
Given my kiddos were acutely Lead-poisoned as babies, we work really hard to avoid Lead in our foods (to the degree we can). One of my sons also tested positive for Arsenic, and so we also work diligently to ensure there are very few potential sources of Arsenic in their life, too. (Given they already have challenges from their Lead exposure, we don’t need to add “health complications from Arsenic exposure” to the list of things we have to deal with!)
My kids are not little any more (they are giant, man-sized children — ages at the time of writing this: 15, 19, 21, and 27 — with three birthdays and one half-birthday coming up in July!), so what I choose to feed my children (the two that are still at home with me) might not work well for all parents, but I do want to emphasize that the list below is essentially what I have always fed them, even when they were tiny babies and toddlers (although I did breast-feed for an extended period with each child, and we also delayed solids until they were truly ready for it, so we never personally had choking concerns).
A list of snacks I often feed them is below (along with some guidance on what I don’t feed them). Please do note that my level of education on this subject has increased over the past 28 years of parenting (I first became a parent in July of 1996!), so earlier articles I have written (in previous years) may have suggestions that our family no longer regularly eats.
What we avoid (our “ground rules” for snacking!)
- We avoid all snacks with cassava flour (and/or cassava, tapioca, or arrowroot listed as ingredients)
- We also avoid snacks with rice flour (and/or rice syrup — any form of rice in general)
- We also avoid any flour-based snacks when we can (regardless of the type of flour)
- We avoid snacks with Himalayan salt (also high in Lead)
- We avoid balsamic vinegar (high in Lead)
- We also try to avoid chocolate when we can… but not always. Chocolate is high in Lead and Cadmium (yes, even your favorite brand of organic, ethically-sourced, fair-traded, sugar-free, yada-yada)! Chocolate should be used sparingly — as a “flavor” (like vanilla), not as a food on its own. So if we do succumb to chocolate, it is more likely to be a chocolate-flavored item.
- My son Avi also (fairly strictly) does not eat anything with cane sugar (or cane sugar derivatives, like molasses).
- And, of course, we are pretty strict about avoiding these nasty things across the board: Coal tar dyes, hydrogenated oil, and any form of corn syrup.
- By “avoid,” what I mean is this: If we must buy a processed, packaged snack food (something we rarely do but more often do when we are traveling) and we read the ingredients on the item and it has anything from the above ingredient families, we will not choose it.
- However, as an example, if we happen to accidentally buy something with Himalayan salt as a last ingredient, we might still eat that item that one time — but will not choose it again in the future.
- We also limit consumption of sunflower seeds (as they can be high in Lead), and avoid sunflower seed butter.
- In addition to the above considerations, we do our best to choose organic options whenever possible (with rare exceptions when we are traveling and cannot find organic options).
Snacks my kids eat and love (or at least like)
Remember, the key to everything in life — to a long, healthy life — is variety (especially when you are talking about foods)!
After seeing the above list of things we avoid, so many people react with the comment “That leaves NOTHING left to eat for my kiddos!” My thoughts on that:
- That statement is simply not true, as evidenced by the (partial) list of foods my kids often eat for snacks.
- Please also realize that my family’s snacking list is not exhaustive—there are more safe food choices out there than what I have listed below.
- You may make choices for your family that are different from the choices I have made for my family, but are also safer choices than most of the processed packaged snacks out there.
- If you keep my (above) list of things we avoid in mind, that’s a good set of considerations to use as guidelines for your choices (specifically when focusing on trying to limit any dietary exposure to Lead for your children).
- I also will say that with younger children, your list (of foods that they will actually eat) might be much smaller — and that’s ok.
- If (on the fresh fruit and veggie front), your kiddo only eats cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and avocados — for example — that’s a great start; just simplify your life by making sure to always have them on hand (so you don’t reach for processed snacks instead).
Please also don’t believe the B.S. marketing propaganda that a lot of processed snack food companies push; natural whole foods do not have anything near the same amount of Lead (and other contaminants) — if/ when they have any that one may find in processed, packaged, manufactured foods! (We will be laboratory testing some raw, organic foods to demonstrate this… but we made this silly video for context in the meantime.)
And with that… Here is our “go to” snack list:
- Whole (raw or roasted, sometimes salted or organic tamari-roasted) nuts and seeds (ORGANIC – for all whenever possible)
- walnuts (try red walnuts – yum!)
- pistachios (only organic, not roasted in sunflower oil / seed oil)
- almonds
- cashews
- pumpkin seeds
- hazelnuts
- brazil nuts
- pecans (my kids do not love these, but I do!)
- Nut or seed butters (on fruits or veggies)
- almond butter
- cashew butter
- pistachio butter (this is so inexpensive and so good in Greece — OMG!)
- pumpkin seed butter
- Popcorn (deserves its own category)
- plain
- with sea salt
- with nutritional yeast
- with vegan butter or real butter
- with sesame seeds
- Vegetables (raw, fresh, whole or sliced — organic and washed)
- whole cucumbers (Charlie’s favorite snack!)
- sliced cucumbers with vinegar (but not balsamic — it often has unsafe levels of Lead)
- whole fresh carrots (washed and peeled when possible)
- carrot sticks
- carrot sticks with peanut butter
- carrot sticks with sea salt
- celery sticks with sea salt
- celery sticks with nut butter
- corn (lightly steamed/ on-the-cob)
- with butter (vegan or not) or with Japanese umeboshi paste!
- snap peas (fresh, raw, whole — washed)
- broccoli — steamed or raw
- edamame (organic, if at all possible)
- red bell peppers (sliced — plain or with vinegar or salt)
- orange bell peppers
- yellow bell peppers
- pickles (all sizes!)
- Charlie loves tiny European gherkins
- Bubbie’s® Pickles have always been a favorite in our home
- potatoes (small potatoes like reds, purples, or yellows — when roasted with garlic is a favorite snack for Charlie)
- organic chick peas and kidney beans (simple bean salad) soaked overnight in red wine vinegar is a favorite of Charlie’s, too!
- “Snack” beverages
- fresh-pressed juices (fruit or veggie or a combination), fruit juices are a rare treat for my kids:
- orange juice
- apple juice
- lemon juice (often served in Mediterranean countries as a beverage)
- carrot juice
- greens juice (with lemon, ginger, and garlic!)
- kombucha
- smoothies
- Favorite smoothie ingredients: Apples, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, bananas, melon, peanut butter (yuck! But the kids like it), unsweetened soy milk/ water, or juice for the liquid, plus ice
- homemade popsicles — made of juice (or smoothies), sometimes with chunks of whole fruit included for fun
- WATER — with a little Lemon juice or Lime juice (or just a splash of orange juice)
- We try to always offer plain water before offering anything else.
- fresh-pressed juices (fruit or veggie or a combination), fruit juices are a rare treat for my kids:
- Fresh, whole, raw (organic and washed) fruits!
- apples (whole or sliced)
- We have “an apple a day” rule in our house… so if the kids ever say they are hungry, and they have not yet had their apple for the day, an apple is the obvious first choice.
- Sometimes also (unsweetened, organic) applesauce will count, too — homemade if possible (which is a fun activity for the kids)!
- sliced apples with peanut butter, cashew butter, or hazelnut butter
- oranges
- clementines
- kumquats (my kids love these and our friend Jess has a kumquat tree!)
- grapefruits
- pomegranates
- (always a big hit in our home — a fruit and “an activity” in one!)
- avocados
- avocados sliced in half with vinegar in the dimple where the pit used to be (eaten with a spoon!)
- avocados sliced in thin slices
- avocados sliced or mashed on toast (a rare treat — we make sure the volume of avocado is greater than the volume of any bread or bread-like item served in this case)
- tomatoes
- cherry tomatoes — whole
- large tomatoes — quartered or sliced, with sea salt sprinkled on top
- peaches — whole or sliced
- pears — whole or sliced
- plums — from our tree in summer!
- cherries — also from our tree in summer!
- coconuts — these are always fun, an activity and a fruit!
- honey dew melon (sliced or in smoothies!)
- cantaloupe (sliced or in smoothies)
- grapes
- tiny champagne grapes are a fun alternative to regular grapes!
- strawberries (local, organic Oregon strawberries — yum!)
- blackberries — from our bushes in the summer
- blueberries
- frozen blueberries with milk poured on top (soy milk, cow milk — whatever your preference) is a great summer snack
- Trader Joes tiny organic wild frozen blueberries are a great (but messy!) snack option for teething babies
- The following fruits are popular with kids, but are naturally very-high-sugar, so are reserved for special treats (and a little goes a long way!):
- mango
- pineapple
- bananas — plain, whole
- bananas sliced with peanut butter on top
- apples (whole or sliced)
Reminder: This is NOT everything we eat! This is a list of the types of things my kids eat as SNACKS! We also eat LOTS of other things for meals! 🙂
More thoughts from my original Instagram post
(from April 7, 2024):
- Charlie (15) likes to put lemon or lime on almost everything!
- Avi (19) is both vegan and “cane-sugar free,” so it is a little trickier but he manages to find local, vegan and sugar-free, whole-grain (not flour-based) baked goods, and in some cases/ places, even some “fairly decent” food bar-type things in most locations around the world!
- Charlie is not vegan — and also likes things like biltong as a snack every now and then. (I’m just trying to think of everything they have eaten this week — lol).
- Charlie has yogurt every now and then (often served with whole fresh fruit, and/or unsweetened granola made from whole grains and nuts).
- Charlie used to like hard-boiled eggs as a snack.
- Avi will get dairy-free, plant-based yogurts as an occasional treat.
- We normally limit flour products almost entirely (but I don’t freak out if they ask for a once-in-a-blue-moon “special” nutritionally-useless thing… like, er… a rare hot pretzel from a food cart in Times Square).
- In Europe, my children tend to eat some (more) flour products because in general, the flour is much higher quality there and they do not have the same negative reactions that they have to products in the U.S. (plus high-quality fresh fruits and veggies are everywhere to balance-out any small amount of bread they might eat).
- Charlie’s favorite comfort food/ snack/ treat is REAL bagels (meaning boiled vs. “BSOs — bagel-shaped objects!”), with wild-caught smoked salmon (we always get wild-caught salmon if we get boiled bagels, too), and organic/ all-natural cream cheese. Real bagels tend to be very hard to find, so this is not an every day thing!
- In Scotland, the boys enjoyed a treat of crumpets with all-fruit (locally-made/ sugar-free) jams, or local honey (with vegan butter for Avi, and dairy butter for Charlie) — but they were equally likely to get excited about a snack of garlic-roasted Brussels sprouts, which are very common/ popular/ easy to find in the U.K.
- Avi really likes (vegan) sushi, but he tested high for Arsenic a couple of years ago so we now limit that rice-based food to an occasional treat (once a month or less).
What do your kids like to snack on? Please comment on this article to leave YOUR ideas for other parents who might be stuck!
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love this list of “do’s”. These are all the things we relied on before the over processed stuff at the grocers today. I TRY to get my son to go for these options first. I say try because he’s now 18 and thinks he can just eat whatever he wants, which tends to be junk, if I’m not around. I do make my own oat flour (vitamixer) and make him healthy, veggi and fruit filled muffins, cookies, etc, using xylitol or stevia as sweetener. Blueberry smoothies are a frequent, almost daily, snack.
Hi! Why is Cane Sugar bad?? What do you suggest to replace it with then? …we do use other sugars, but I’ve always tried to use Organic Cane Sugar (in place of typical white sugar) because I thought it was the “better, healthier version”. I’m so sad to hear there is an issue with it, but would love to learn more as to why that is. Thank you!!
Hi Sabrina,
I’m not Tamara, but I was just reading this page and saw that you were confused.
Organic Cane Sugar should be fine – it is much better than high-fructose corn syrup, or sugar made from genetically modified beet root. Tamara was saying her elder son Avi is on a vegan and cane-sugar free diet.
> My son Avi also (fairly strictly) does not eat anything with cane sugar (or cane sugar derivatives, like molasses).
Hope that clears things up! 🙂
Thanks for your reply. May I ask why your son strictly does not eat Cane Sugar? I’m just generally curious and want to learn. Thank you!
what black strap molasses is safe??
I don’t believe any is. I have heard that it is all contaminated.
https://tamararubin.com/2024/11/plantation-blackstrap-molasses/
Hi Tamara,
Thank you! I am rethinking my habit of carrying energy bars in my backpack when spending the afternoon up at a lake in a state park (the practicality was the big draw – also the fact that they are in a sealed package and we have occasionally had bear issues up there, though not lately – and they hold up in the heat). I could just take nuts and dried fruit instead (that’s mainly what’s in the energy bars). Do you have any thoughts on dried fruit? Is that an issue?
Thanks!
We have a dehydrator and try to dry our own fruit. Dried fruit sold in stores (and especially packaged dried fruit) tends to test positive for higher levels of Lead – which is why the federal allowable limits for Lead in dried fruit is higher than the allowable limits for Lead in other foods.
T
Oh my! Even something like Soley Dried Mangos? Why is this?
Curious about Solely mango bars too. We eat these often
I believe it’s because of the machinery they use to slice/ process the fruit. Which is also why any processed foods may have higher levels than the organic item.
In the case of dried fruit, removing the water concentrates everything that remains, on both a weight and volume basis. As a result, people tend to eat dried fruit in greater quantities than if that same fruit were fresh. (For example, think about the number of dried apricots one would eat in a sitting as opposed to fresh apricots.) So the overall levels of heavy metals ingested are higher when you compare dried fruit consumption to fresh fruit consumption.
Is there any chocolate at all that is safe. From Mexico or Central Americans. . ?
No. Not really. Especially not from those areas. I have not found any Lead-free / Cadmium-free chocolates. This is why I emphasize thinking of chocolate as a “flavor” and not as a food (like vanilla).
T
Hi T!
I am wondering if the pretty plate used in the above photograph of snacks is lead free? If so, I would love to purchase a set of those. Also, are all the new pretty Correll plates lead free? I chatted on their website and they said all their products are lead free. I noticed they have many pretty and new choices!
Thanks so much for all you do 🙂
Hi!
I did not test it.
It was from Ikea and was at a house we were visiting.
Because it was new and from Ikea (and we only used it once) – I was not concerned about leaching. I would expect it probably would have some amount of Lead – given most Ikea ceramics do these days.
T
Can we actually use anything nowadays without worrying
I never worry – I just make safer choices and move one.
T
I’m so sad about the chocolate thing. Did you happen to test european chocolates
Check out As You Sew, they have tested dozens of chocolates.
Sorry, the website is As You Sow
Hey Mindy! Thanks so much for mentioning As You Sow – I didn’t know about them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_You_Sow
I found the test results for their chocolate investigation. I really appreciate your bringing this up!
https://www.asyousow.org/environmental-health/toxic-enforcement/toxic-chocolate
I was lead poisoned as an adult. So thankful for this list! I had horrific digestive issues and it’s funny because one of the only flours my body would tolerate before I found out my lead levels were the culprit was Cassava. Thankful for all the work you are doing! It’s making a difference!
We do a lot of apples and carrots, too! I’m also a big fan of berries when they’re in season, as well as full-fat yogurt with granola (do you know whether granola tends to have issues due to the processing equipment?). Fruit smoothies are a favorite for my kiddos, and we also do easy things like PB&Js and raw nuts and seeds often. I have three kids under 5, so convenience plays a big role for us, but I find simple things like carrot sticks and PB&Js are usually just as easy as grabbing the processed cereal, chips, or snack bars, most of which I’m guessing are on the high-lead list.
Love this! Very informative. Thank you for sharing.
Have you tried organic watermelon? I noticed it wasn’t on the list of fruits.
Love the dishes! Are they really lead free? What are they?
We desperately need some form of crackers or chips to keep in the house. Aren’t there any that have low or moderate levels of heavy metals?
Hi Tamara! Oh no, I didn’t realize Himalayan salt is high in lead 🙁 What about sea salt? Thank you very much for your work!
Hello! Thank you for commenting! This is AJ (one of Tamara’s sons). I’m helping my mom answer questions.
Check out this article for salt brand recommendations and a deeper dive on this subject:
https://tamararubin.com/2020/10/how-much-lead-is-in-salt-which-salt-is-safest-to-use-for-cooking-is-himalayan-salt-safe/
You can also subscribe to the free mailing list by clicking the blue “subscribe” button at the top of this article to stay updated on any new information in real time.
Aren’t carrots and other root vegetables also high in lead?
What kind of salt is lead free? Salicornia maybe? Although it’s grown in California on the coast so I’m not optimistic.
aflink https://amzn.to/3VKzDA6 (lead-safe, very low lead)
Hi Tamara can you please clarify REAL bagels. Tried to google but sadly it doesn’t seem to be a brand. I have been on a long and unsuccessful search for healthy bagels after recently taking a good look at the ingredients at Whole Foods bakery bagel. I don’t understand why there are so many useless ingredients when really just a few key ingredients are needed. Please share some brands for bagels or bread if you can. Thank you
Hi! Have you tested the Jacobson salt you recommend for a “safe salt”? I saw other people saying the Jacobson salt is very high in arsenic… just wondering what on earth to buy! Thanks for all you do!
Hello! Thank you for commenting! This is AJ (one of Tamara’s sons). I’m helping my mom answer questions.
Check out this article for salt brand recommendations and a deeper dive on this subject:
https://tamararubin.com/2020/10/how-much-lead-is-in-salt-which-salt-is-safest-to-use-for-cooking-is-himalayan-salt-safe/
You can also subscribe to the free mailing list by clicking the blue “subscribe” button at the top of this article to stay updated on any new information in real time.
I love that AJ is helping his mother with replies!
get ahold of just make sure they are as ripe as possible. Saba bananas are quite different texture than most varieties and good alone or combined with another variety. When I was in the Portland Oregon area my favorite was the smaller Thai bananas from an Asian market. Here in the Philippines, I usually use an evergreen banana that closely resembles the Cavendish variety readily available in the USA except that the skin stays a shade of green when ripe instead of really turning yellow. Lakatan bananas are nice but usually more than double the price. You can use a base of banana and combine other frozen fruit or fruit juices as you homogenize them. Leave it swirly or stir together as you like. I generally avoid the Latundan variety of bananas as they almost always seem to be astringent or aplod. Interestingly, the combination of sweet, ripe banana with a very aplod fruit juice (Java plum, duhat, or lomboy) seems to my tastebuds to greatly reduce or eliminate the astringency plus it comes out delightfully purple.
After learning about vitamin A toxicity from the “Nutrition Detective”, I could only make this snack recommendation be for occasional treats due to high levels of carotenoids in cantelope. That said, you’ll need a Champion juicer and a freezer and cantelope for this treat. Remove seeds, peel and slice the cantelope into pieces that will fit into the Champion juicer. Freeze the cantaloupe pieces very well. Homogenize the frozen cantaloupe by running it through the Champion juicer with the blank plate installed. Serve immediately and delight in the amazingly creamy consistency! You may find it hard to believe that it contains no fat. Mmmmm! A more regular treat is peeled and frozen super ripe bananas which make an excellent “nice cream” all by themselves. Try all the different banana varieties you can get ahold of just make sure they are as ripe as possible. Saba bananas are quite different texture than most varieties and good alone or combined with another variety. When I was in the Portland Oregon area my favorite was the smaller Thai bananas from an Asian market.
Does Balsamic vinegar made in California test high for lead?
Are there any pastas that are safe to eat? My kids love it so much (Italians here).
Hi there! What about milling your out flour out of wheat berries? I wonder if you know of any farmers who test their wheat berries and are known to have low lead, or what you know about this method? Maybe the milling part actually puts some metal in the flour.
I’m also curious about this as I see it recommended a ton in my homesteading and holistic groups!
Have you found an “O” type cereal that is safe for babies who can’t yet chew the snacks suggested above?
not yet
Hello,
I was wondering why you avoid rice flour and cane sugar. Also, why do you avoid rice and flour in general? Is it because they’re just unhealthy in general? Just wondering if there’s any safety issues.
Flour and ground products are generally contaminated with Cadmium and sometimes with Lead. Rice products (especially rice-flour products) are high in Arsenic. Sugar is bad for humans across the board.
T
Thanks for the ideas!! Would love a post on meals, too. 🙂
It feels like I can’t eat anything anymore. I’m dairy free, gluten free, egg free and corn free. If I bake cake or bread for myself I use cassava flour and rice flour plus some others. Now I’m unsure how to bake anything anymore
You should ask your doctor about getting a blood or urine test for a full heavy metals panel and let your test results guide you.
If you test positive for Lead above 0.43 micrograms of Lead per deciliter of blood (the average for women of childbearing age in the U.S. based on 2011 population levels) you should consider eliminating potential lead-contaminated foods from your diet (like cassava flour based products).
If you test positive for arsenic you should consider eliminating rice and sunflower seeds (for starters)
Read this: https://tamararubin.com/2020/05/i-heard-that-urine-and-hair-tests-for-heavy-metals-including-lead-were-not-real-or-useful-test-results-why-is-this/
Don’t replace flours with alternate flours – replace flours with whole raw foods. Avoid flour whenever possible.
Have you tried oat flours? You can bake with oat flour using the one-degree oats and you will be Lead-free & Arsenic-free.
https://tamararubin.com/2024/06/june-2024-laboratory-test-results-for-one-degree-organic-gluten-free-sprouted-rolled-oats/
Tamara
I just had some of the Navitas chocolate wafers and then my scan on the zyto showed lead was high and I see you just posted that the cacao powder tested high for lead etc
UGG
I figure if one of their products shows high in lead the rest of their chocolate products do too
thanks for posting !!
I use to use xylitol. Your body can’t digest it and it can cause damage to liver, diarrhea. Bad for pets.increase in blood clot formation.
I know you said dried fruit can be a culprit for heavy metals, but what about nuts and beans? Don’t they also run on metal equipment as they are packaged? Will you please explain? We would all appreciate it!