Anthony’s Organic Cassava Flour Tested Positive for Alarming Amount of Lead, Cadmium, & Arsenic with Independent (Community-Funded), Third-Party Laboratory Testing
Published April 30, 2025 — Wednesday
A Quick Note from Tamara Rubin:
The amount of Lead found in this Anthony’s Organic cassava flour product is incredibly alarming and we are filing a report with the FDA to request a formal investigation and recall of this product.
Children (and even larger humans) who have been consuming this product on a regular basis will likely test positive for Lead in their blood. We encourage anyone who has been consuming this (or any other Lead-contaminated product) to ask their doctor about getting a Blood Lead Level (BLL) test as a baseline immediately, especially if you have not had one recently — more on that here.
If you have some of this product in your pantry, please set it aside in a separate baggie clearly marked DO NOT EAT and find your purchase receipt (if possible) to put in the baggie as well. Please also stand by for any potential formal recalls or potential litigation against the company. Do not throw out this important evidence as it could be helpful to others. Thank you.
To see our recently published comparative chart of toxicant profiles for flour products that we have sent to the lab for testing to date (a chart that includes the lab test results for this product), click here. We also shared about the concern for the high levels of Lead in this product in a video posted on social media (watch it here) and a separate social media post (linked here).
If you would like to join us in reporting this product to the FDA, here’s the link to do that. We do not believe this is a batch-specific issue and we expect the toxicant-levels found with the product batch that we sent to the lab for testing are likely fairly consistent across all recent batches of this product, but with our complaint we are asking the FDA to investigate and confirm the scope of the concern with this product (how many batches are impacted and should be recalled). If you do have batch information for a recent purchase of this product, please include that with your report. We purchased the product that we sent to the lab for testing from Amazon via the “Anthony’s Goods” store (the brand’s store directly, not a knock-off account or other distributor) on April 3, 2025. This is a product specific issue, not a brand-specific issue.
Here are lab reports for other Anthony’s products we have tested to date:
- Anthony’s Organic Cane Sugar — Tested “Non-Detect” for Toxicants: https://amzn.to/4iCizp9
- Anthony’s Tiger Nut Flour — Tested Positive for Toxicants
The articles linked below may also provide helpful context for this concern:
- More information about Blood Lead Testing
- Information about urine testing for heavy metals
- Information about food-based natural detox protocols
- Check out the list of 73 safer choices we have found to date with our laboratory testing initiative
- Here’s the landing page linking all the laboratory reports for the testing we have published to date (350+)
The full original lab report for this supplement product is at the bottom of this article. Please scroll down.
As far as safer choices for foods, supplements, and cosmetics go (including toothpastes and other personal care products), we have a few lists on our food and supplement testing landing page (linked here) that you may find helpful in making safer choices for your family. We even have one dedicated to safer snack choices, here. You may also find this link helpful as it takes you to our most recently updated safer choices list of 73 lab-tested safer foods, cosmetics, and supplements!
Here’s the link to our landing page with ALL of the lab reports for the independent, third-party laboratory testing Lead Safe Mama, LLC has coordinated since March of 2024 — this is also a good page to bookmark and check back on periodically (it is always pinned at the top of the website’s Menu via the button graphic below, and the Menu can be found at the top of every page on this site).
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 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 news coverage of our work, linked here.
This is an ad-free article.
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 (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 of our newly published lab reports are first shared on Patreon before we share them on social media (our Patreon has an option to subscribe for free as well)!
Are you interested in seeing MORE safer choices?
Below is an expanding list of products (foods, supplements, cosmetics, and personal care items) that have tested “non-detect” for Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, and Arsenic with independent, third-party, community-funded laboratory testing coordinated by Lead Safe Mama, LLC (an Oregon-based small business with a unique community-collaborative business model and a focus on consumer goods safety and childhood Lead poisoning prevention). The product examples below clearly demonstrate that companies can manufacture safer choices (at least from the perspective of a concern for heavy metals contamination).
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The limits of detection (low-threshold of detection) for each of the metals tested can be found in the lab report for the specific product listed. To see the full original lab report for any of these products, type the brand name into the search bar at the top of any page on Lead Safe Mama dot com (and scroll down to the bottom of the related article). All of our published lab reports can also be found linked here, on our lab testing landing page.
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Flavors (or specific variations) tested are noted, and other flavors of the same product (or other products from the same brand) have either not been tested or have been tested but did not yield similar results. Test results only apply to the specific products linked below.
LIST UPDATED April 28, 2025
Now at 67 products + 6 “bonus” options. Scroll down to see all 73 Lab-Tested Safer Choices:
- Baby Food — 1 — Little Spoon Kale, Carrot + Pear BabyBlends
- Baby Food — 2 —Little Spoon Butternut Squash + Blueberry BabyBlends
- Baby Food — 3 — Little Spoon Sweet Potato BabyBlends
- Baby Food — 4 — Little Spoon Sweet Potato + Carrot BabyBlends
- Baby Food — 5 — Little Spoon Banana + Pitaya BabyBlends
- Beverage — 1 — Honest Kids Organic Appley Ever After Apple Juice Drink: https://amzn.to/4fjGhov
- Beverage — 2 — Olipop Grape Tonic: https://amzn.to/4cjFYZu
- Breakfast Item — 1 — Nature’s Path Envirokidz Organic Panda Puffs: https://amzn.to/4fo1crf
- Breakfast Item — 2 — Nature’s Path Envirokidz Organic Corn Puffs Gorilla Munch: https://amzn.to/3FHZCDO
- Breakfast Item — 3 — One Degree Organic, Gluten-Free, Sprouted Rolled Oats (Canada): https://amzn.to/3WIQ1BN
- Candy — 1 — Lindt White Chocolate Bar (Made in USA, New Hampshire): https://amzn.to/3OXkyIm
- Candy — 2 — Cavendish & Harvey Wild Berry Drops, not organic (Germany): https://amzn.to/3Z1Jxjr
- Coffee & Tea — 1 — Chameleon Handcrafted Organic Cold Brew Concentrate: https://amzn.to/3OcrH77
- Coffee & Tea — 2 — Tao of Tea Organic Genmaicha (Tamara’s favorite, from Japan, sold by a Portland, Oregon-based company!): https://amzn.to/3Dp8Fsd
- Coffee & Tea — 3 — Califia Farms Almond Latte Cold Brew (XX Espresso): https://amzn.to/4gTTGoJ
- Coffee & Tea — 4 — Death Wish Organic Espresso Roast Ground Coffee (Multi-country origin, non-USA): https://amzn.to/3yo1eiL
- Coffee Creamer, Plant-Based — 1 — Laird Superfood Coconut Creamer: https://amzn.to/4fItA7A
- Coffee Creamer, Dairy — 2 — Organic Valley Grassmilk Half and Half: https://amzn.to/4fHJIWT
- Dairy, Cheese — 1 — Babybel Mini Original Snack Cheese: https://amzn.to/3ZY5noO
- Fruit Snack — 1 — GoGo Squeez Organic Apple Sauce Pouch: https://amzn.to/3XhWYLe
- Fruit Snack — 2 — Costco’s Kirkland Organic Apple Sauce Pouch: https://amzn.to/4gOYpZ9
- Fruit Snack — 3 — Pure Organic Layered Fruit Bars in Strawberry Banana Flavor: https://amzn.to/3WQEekA
- Fruit Snack — 4 — Once Upon A Farm Dairy Free Fruit Smoothie Pouch in Strawberry Banana Swirl Flavor: https://amzn.to/3CPMbAw
- Fruit Snack — 5 — Pure Organic Layered Fruit Bars in Raspberry Lemonade Flavor: https://amzn.to/3XcFsIp
- Infant Formula — 1 — Bobbie Organic Gentle Infant Formula Milk-Based Powder with Iron (pink and white can): https://amzn.to/3YYb849
- Infant Formula — 2 — Bobbie Organic Infant Formula Milk-Based Powder with Iron (green and white can): https://amzn.to/3VOr4Vy
- Infant Formula — 3 — Bobbie Grass-Fed Milk-Based Powder with Iron (green can): https://amzn.to/3ZlAaeJ
- Infant Formula — 4 — ByHeart Infant Formula (USA-made, not organic): https://amzn.to/48DJjTb
- Infant Formula — 5 — HiPP Bio Combiotik Infant Formula Powder, Stage 1 (imported)
- Infant Formula — 6 — HiPP HA Stage PRE (0+ Months) Combiotic Formula (imported)
- Infant Formula — 7 — Holle Bio Goat Stage 2 Infant Formula (for 6-10 months, organic, European — Swiss/ German/ Austrian) is not available on Amazon, but the Stage 3 version of this product is (not yet tested, but will likely test similarly): https://amzn.to/3BVU7zI
- Infant Formula — 8 — Kendamil Goat Infant Formula (not organic): This product may be available at Target (it is not available on Amazon)
- Infant Formula — 9 — Kendamil Organic Follow-On Milk (European/ British Toddler Formula, for 6-12 months, Cow Milk): Not available on Amazon (report link)
- Infant Formula — 10 — Kendamil Whole Milk Infant Formula (from Europe, pink can, not organic), available at Target
- Infant Formula — 11 — Kendamil Organic Infant Formula (Cow Milk): Not available on Amazon but may be available at Target
- Ingredient — 1 — (salt) — Jacobsen’s Sea Salt (Oregon, USA): https://amzn.to/4dcbk5L
- NEW! Ingredient — 2 — (salt) — Maldon Sea Salt Flakes**: https://amzn.to/4iTzWTE
- NEW! Ingredient — 3 — (salt) — Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt** : https://amzn.to/4cVQMiy
- Ingredient — 4 — (baking flour) — Jovial Organic Einkorn Flour (Italy): https://amzn.to/3LIqxix
- Ingredient — 5 — (seeds) — Costco Kirkland Organic Hemp Seeds: https://amzn.to/4e05RP9
- Ingredient — 6 — (seeds) — Navitas Organic, Gluten-Free Chia Seeds (Mexico): https://amzn.to/3YvE7xC
- Ingredient — 7 — (vinegar) — Napa Valley Naturals Organic Red Wine Vinegar (California): https://amzn.to/4jWhHOg
- Ingredient — 8 — (beans) — Jovial Organic Chickpeas, Product of Italy: https://amzn.to/4iRON1l
- Ingredient — 9 — (sugar) — Anthony’s Organic Granulated Cane Sugar: https://amzn.to/4jf6vLv
- NEW! Ingredient — 10 — (sweetener) — Espure Organic Xylitol**: https://amzn.to/3GsCSrU
- NEW! Ingredient — 11 — (sweetener) — Now Foods Xylitol**: https://amzn.to/4cNWDpM
- Oil — 1 — Chosen Foods 100% Avocado Oil (not organic): https://amzn.to/3YDZSuv
- Oil — 2 — Dr. Adorable’s Organic Perilla Seed Oil (Korea): https://amzn.to/3NDt7Yc
- Oil — 3 — Dr. Bronner’s Regenerative Organic Coconut Oil: https://amzn.to/40xwBmv
- Plant-Based Milk — 1 — Kiki Milk Organic Plant-Based Milk (original flavor): https://amzn.to/3AA6Qrt
- Plant-Based Milk — 2 — West Soy Unflavored Unsweetened Organic Soy Milk: https://amzn.to/4dwev8l
- Supplement — 1 — Baby Ddrops, Organic Vitamin D3 Supplement for Babies: https://amzn.to/49C3ktH
- Supplement — 2 — Doctor’s Best Vitamin C with Q-C: https://amzn.to/4hlVvea
- Supplement — 3 — Mary Ruth’s Organic Toddler Multivitamin Liquid Drops with Iron: https://amzn.to/3YPhcgx
- Supplement — 4 — Mary Ruth’s Organic Toddler Elderberry Liquid Drops: https://amzn.to/42617TU
- Supplement — 5 — Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Fish Oil: https://amzn.to/48q1j2V
- Supplement — 6 — Nordic Naturals Kids Vitamin D3 Gummies (Ages 3+): https://amzn.to/4l7117a
- Supplement — 7 — Pectasol Modified Citrus Pectin, Formulated in the USA: https://amzn.to/3QUmZfN
- Supplement — 8 — Pendulum Metabolic Daily Dietary Supplement: https://amzn.to/4gY5wOm
- Cosmetic — 1 — Kora Organics Noni Face Oil: https://amzn.to/43hy2XO
- NEW! Cosmetic— 2 — Babo Botanicals Sensitive Baby Lotion**: https://amzn.to/3YmKxy1
- Toothpaste — 1 — Fluoride-free Orajel Kids Training Toothpaste in Natural Berry Fruity Flavor with Elmo Sesame Street Packaging: https://amzn.to/41wxtrY
- Toothpaste — 2 — Fluoride-free Miessence Mint Toothpaste: https://amzn.to/4bJc4PO
- Toothpaste — 3 — Dr. Brown’s Fluoride-free Baby Toothpaste in Strawberry Flavor: https://amzn.to/3DCehzZ
- Toothpaste — 4 — Pegciz Kids Foam Toothpaste in Watermelon Flavor, Low Flouride (packaging varies, see report): https://amzn.to/3YzP68e
- Toothpaste — 5 — Kid’s Spry Fluoride-free Tooth Gel with Xylitol in Original Flavor: https://amzn.to/41GZb4e
- NEW! Toothpaste — 6 — Fluoride-free Essential Oxygen BR Certified Organic in Peppermint Flavor**: https://amzn.to/4lARZ2J
**Lab reports pending/ Not yet published as of 4/28/2025
Here’s the link to our landing page featuring all of the third-party lab reports for the foods, supplements, and cosmetic products we have published to date, including those listed above: https://tamararubin.com/2024/05/food-articles/
Stand by for more!
BONUS: Below are SIX additional products that each tested positive for trace (very low levels of) Arsenic — at levels considered safe by all standards (with the limits of detection noted in the lab report for the specific product listed).
- Ingredient — Maseca Instant Corn Masa Flour, Product of Mexico (positive for traces of Arsenic): https://amzn.to/4iR8qWN
- Infant Formula — Kendamil Goat Toddler Milk, not organic (positive for traces of Arsenic): May be available at Target or through other online retailers of European infant formulas
- Fruit Snack — That’s It Apple Cherry Bars, not organic (positive for traces of Arsenic): https://amzn.to/4fHkSWV
- Oil — Chosen Foods 100% Pure Avocado oil, organic (postive for traces of Arsenic): https://amzn.to/3BVQYQa
- Supplement — Now Sunflower Lecithin, not organic (positive for traces of Arsenic): https://amzn.to/3AFdHzO
- Supplement — WishGarden Immune Boost Seasonal Rescue for Pregnancy: https://amzn.to/3Cd940N
Amazon links are affiliate links.
Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on a Lead Safe Mama, LLC Amazon affiliate link, Lead Safe Mama, LLC may receive a percentage of what you spend, at no extra cost to you.
Lab report for the product pictured above:
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Oh my, awful! I will pass this on. I know several people with Celic or gluten sensitivity. This is incredibly frightening to see an organic non-GMO product test out likely this! I hope that things don’t get to the point that the word “organic” means nothing. 🙁
Unfortunately this is not the manufacturer’s fault necessarily. As Tamara mentioned in one of her previous posts, root vegetables are known to accumulate lead from the soil. And given that our soil is still contaminated with lead, vegetables like sweet potatoes, beets, and cassava will have the highest concentration of lead among vegetables. I’ve been trying to get in touch wit people at the FDA that conduct and publish food testing to see if they would release information on the level of lead contamination across different USA regions/states but they are not responding. In the meantime, probably need to limit products containing concentrated root vegetables and assume there are no major differences among states/regions – and that it will probably be worse if the vegetables come from other parts of the world (e.g. China/India).
I avoid Anthony’s after discovering the shockingly high toxic/metal levels in chocolate and seeing the greenwashing on their Organic Cocoa Powder, and then noticing the Prop 65 for Lead (not required to be on package if it is on the web page “somewhere”) warning hidden halfway down the Amazon page under a pull-down menu (it also shows those warnings at Checkout, so beware! They go the distance to obscure this info on Amazon.) Cocoa powders have the highest metal levels and all chocolate does have them. Asyousow.org has an article and interactive Table for investigating. I trust nothing about Anthony’s since and will never buy their products. The greenwashing is getting to be a heinous epidemic and companies that do it, I avoid like the plague they actually are. I disagree with another reviewer. I don’t think most people know that root vegetables concentrate metals on uptake. Potatoes are a root vegetable and yet, chips are gobbled down by the bagful. Basically, you should assume that ANY product that has not Proven itself non-gmo, organic and free of microplastics and heavy metals (for Christ’s sake!!) – and in the case of Maldon Salt, nuclear radioactivity – contains all contaminants until proven otherwise. This is the world we live in now. It’s on us to source, vette and then support the suppliers of products with integrity and purity…or soon, there may be none.