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 amazing coverage of our work so far this year!

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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 articles (and newly published articles, too — 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!

Important Background: What is an Action Level?

Please note the following key points:

The original lab report for this product is below (at the bottom of this page).

The graphic above shows the levels of metals detected in this product (in red) along with the low threshold of detection (in green) for each of the metals not detected with the laboratory testing that Lead Safe Mama, LLC completed for this product. The numbers are juxtaposed (in blue) to the “Action Level” proposed by the medical and scientific community in 2021 as part of the Baby Food Safety Act.

These 2021 levels were proposed as “Action Levels” because they are (in fact) protective of human health.
An “Action Level” is NOT the same as a “Maximum Allowable Level.”
- Many food manufacturers misinterpret guidance on heavy metals to mean “allowable levels” and consider it reasonable for products to test positive below these levels.
- This is a (perhaps intentional?) misunderstanding/ misinterpretation the food industry makes — a misunderstanding which food manufacturers use to justify the presence of heavy metals in their products.
There is no safe level of Lead exposure.
Lead bioaccumulates in the body.
- Lead bio-mimics Calcium in all biological structures.
- If Lead is present, the human body stores it in Calcium-dense biological structures (the brain, bones, organs, teeth, etc.) in place of Calcium.
- Nearly all the Lead you have been exposed to in your life is still stored in your body. You can learn more about this by watching our documentary film on childhood Lead poisoning — linked here.
- It is the cumulative impact of heavy metal exposure (over a lifetime) that makes even small/ incidental/ seemingly trivial exposures particularly damaging and dangerous. You can read more about that here.
Once a food product has the amount of heavy metal (Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, or Arsenic) noted (above) as the “Action Level,” that food product is officially considered (by the scientific and medical community) unsafe for consumption by children as toxicants (found at-or-above these levels) are in the range of heavy metal levels that demonstrably cause lasting harm.
Action Levels are not related to serving size.
- Action Levels are relevant for any amount of a food product that may be consumed (any quantity of the food in question).
- PPB (parts per billion/ ppb) measurements are a percentage (albeit a very small percentage) and apply to any quantity of the food product tested.
- For more discussion about serving size considerations (and why relying on “serving size” to limit toxicant exposure is not a relevant metric/ not a metric protective of human health), read this article.
These “Action Levels” proposed in 2021 are the levels at which the scientific and medical community believe the manufacturer (or government) needs to take ACTION to fix the problem.
- One “Action” would be for the manufacturer to take steps reducing the levels of toxicants in the food product.
- Another “Action” would be for the manufacture to cease sales of the product until the product could be made safe.
- Another “Action” would be for the manufacturer to inform the public that a specific food product has an unsafe level of the metal detected at-or-above the “Action Level” — making a highly-visible public announcement regarding which relevant batches of the product should be recalled and not consumed.
The Action Levels proposed with the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 were not arbitrary toxicant levels, they were proposed because they are the levels most protective of human health, however the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 was not passed into law.
Regardless of the fact that the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 never passed into law — and it is therefore legal to have food for children test positive for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, and Arsenic at-or-above these levels — these Action Levels still reflect the current (modern/ relevant) advice of the medical and scientific communities as levels that are both achievable by the industry and safeguards of infant and toddler health.
Food industry lobbyists fought back against formalizing these proposed “Action Levels” as a government standard, alleging they were unachievable.
- The image below links to a landing page with all the food products we have already tested this year (2024), which were “non-detect” for toxicants with low thresholds of detection (for Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, and Arsenic) far below the 2021 proposed Action Levels.
- These food products (about 10% of the foods Lead Safe Mama, LLC has tested and reported on so far since March 2024 when we started laboratory testing foods) clearly demonstrate these Action Levels as achievable across a range of food types (salt, flour, coffee, oatmeal, chia seeds and a soda product — plus, we are adding more to that list as we continue testing).
The legitimacy of these levels as “Action Levels”/ “Levels of Concern” (even though they were not adopted as law) is further mirrored by the legitimacy of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ level of concern for Lead in water, which is 1 ppb even though the FDA’s official “level of concern” for Lead in water is 15 ppb (you can read more about that here).

For safer food choices, click here.

Published: August 16, 2024

A full lab report for the product pictured is below. Please scroll down.

For context for all of the food testing we are doing, it is important to understand that all U.S. federal agencies agree there is no safe level of Lead exposure. Lead exposure should be eliminated whenever possible.

Lead bio-mimics Calcium and is absorbed by the body in the place of Calcium (in Calcium-rich biological structures, including the brain and bones). Nearly 90% of the Lead we have ever been exposed to is still in our body, which is why we need to focus all of our attention on PREVENTION when it comes to Lead exposure.

Lead poisoning is the single most preventable — yet single most expensive — environmental illness in the world today.

The above statement is straight from the mouths of scientists and medical professionals and is not in dispute at all.

If there are Lead-free choices/ Lead-free alternatives for products (especially foods), it is our duty as parents to choose those Lead-free options whenever possible.

Most detox protocols are snake-oil hoaxes that do not actually remove Lead from the body (some actually have potential to cause significant harm, including by causing/ contributing to an increase in Lead exposure). Prevention is key. Most detox protocols after exposure are at best an ineffective placebo solution and at worst, a potential source of additional poisoning.

For more information on the background context of childhood Lead poisoning, please watch the documentary film I directed and produced titled MisLEAD: America’s Secret Epidemic, linked here.
For information about the most effective (scientifically proven) natural detox protocol (which you can buy for pennies at your local grocery store), click here.
To see a full list of all the foods we have tested and reported on (and the related articles we have written) since we began food testing for Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic, and Mercury, click here.
To see a full list of all the foods we have pending/ currently at the lab (and all the items we are still seeking community funding for testing/ reporting on), click here.
For safer snack choices for your children, click here.
For general guidelines on avoiding Lead in your diet, click here.
For a comprehensive discussion on the concerns for Lead in baby food, click here.
For a list of products that we have tested that have tested negative (non-detect) for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, and Arsenic, click here.

A few more key background points:

Lead Safe Mama, LLC is a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business in which YOU (our community: Readers of this website and followers of our social media channels) decide what we test and you (our community) help cover the cost of that testing.
The testing we report on is truly independent third-party testing — community-driven and community-funded — not influenced by any agency, person, or business.
We are sharing this scientific information (laboratory test results for food products that the Lead Safe Mama community has asked us to test, and that the Lead Safe Mama community has funded testing for) with you (Lead Safe Mama readers) to help you make informed decisions for your family.
We are not doing this to cause panic, fear, or anxiety.
Most other organizations and businesses completing food testing are not sharing the actual lab test results for food products they are testing. We have chosen to “lift the veil of mystery” and share the actual lab reports so you have hard data to use as a basis for any decision making you need to do. We are confident that you are smart enough to understand what the numbers mean (to take the time to learn what they mean) and to use this as a basis to make informed decisions for your family.
While none of us can change the past, we can at least hopefully take the time to learn about the toxicant profiles of the foods we feed our families and use that information to make the best choices we can moving forward.
#KnowBetterDoBetter

The most important question to ask yourself right now: If you had known that this product tested positive for unsafe levels of Lead and Cadmium, would you have chosen it for your family?

My children have eaten cookies from this brand in the past, and — based on the test results for this particular product (and other products we have tested from this brand)— we will no longer be purchasing any products from this company. We certainly understand others may choose to use this information and make different choices for their family based on their own standards and/or circumstances — we think no one should be judged or criticized for making whatever choices seem right for them.

Hopefully the information we provide will help you make whatever choices you make with a foundation of knowledge and facts (rather than selecting products based on blind acceptance of the marketing hype and spin found in the greenwashed language and manufacturer’s claims).

The test results for this food product support the following considerations:

As a society, we really need to reconsider how and what we are feeding our children.
At minimum, as parents, we need to consider eliminating (at least significantly so) highly-processed (made by machines) snacks based from any kind of processed flour (including seed and nut flours).
- Note: In our testing to date, processed packaged food products made of flour (any type of flour) appear to be more contaminated than some other products — likely both as a result of contamination introduced by the mechanized grinding and processing of the ingredients used to make the flours in addition to contamination likely introduced during the machining process required to make the final shaped/ formed product (cereal O’s, puffs, or cookies, etc).
We also need to consider limiting/ eliminating ANY TYPE of store-bought processed, packaged snacks from our children’s diets whenever possible (not just the flour-based products).
Societally, we need to more closely examine how our culture of eating processed, packaged food (which frequently tests positive for high levels of known carcinogens, like Cadmium) is impacting cancer rates, types, and what we can do in response to these findings. The epidemic of cancer in the United States is not generated by some mysterious source — we are accumulating ample evidence that it is clearly rooted in widespread contamination of our food supply (contamination which is primarily found in processed, packaged foods).
We need to demand more from our food supply chain (every step of the way: Not just growing, but the entire system, including harvesting, processing, packaging, and distribution). We need to demand that profit-driven corporate interests (no matter how large or small the corporation) stop manufacturing and selling contaminated products — especially food products with contaminants like Lead and Cadmium, two toxicants that are well-established as causally linked to countless life-long health impairments (and are also toxicants that accumulate in the body over a lifetime).
As consumers, we need to demand (and advocate for) effective regulatory oversight of the food industry.
Finally, we need to demand greater accountability and higher standards related to the language used for marketing and selling products — especially products ostensibly being sold as “healthier” and/or “more natural” choices for children.

If you have been feeding this Simple Mills product to your young children (or consuming it yourself) on a regular basis, out of an abundance of caution we recommend that you stop doing so immediately and consider getting a Blood Lead Level (BLL) test or a full heavy metals panel (to help determine if they or you have had any exposure of concern from eating this product).

We always encourage you to rely on science to help you make informed decisions for your family. Having baseline heavy metals testing for everyone in your family is a good place to start.

You can learn more about BLL testing at this link, and this link. We discuss considerations related to heavy metal panels done with urine testing and hair testing at this link.