Comparison Chart: Nuts, Seeds, Nut-Butters, & Nut Flours

The image on this page is a comparative chart of toxicant levels found in nine different Nuts, Seeds, Nut Butters, and Seed Butter products (including tahini, sunflower seed butter,  and peanut butter) that we have tested and reported on to date.

Below, you’ll find links to  each of the articles containing lab reports for the products included in this chart. The full original lab report is always at the very bottom of each article, AFTER the sharable social media graphic and AFTER the list of lab-tested safer choices identified to date via the Lead Safe Mama, LLC Community Collaborative Laboratory Testing Initiative.

The products in this chart are arranged in ascending order based on their Cadmium level. Cadmium is a known carcinogen and does not belong in our food supply. It is often found to be contaminating food that is grown as a GROUND CROP (like peanuts, potatoes and strawberries, where the food part of the plant is in direct contact with the dirt for much of the growing cycle). Some plants (like sunflowers), are particularly efficient at sucking up toxicants from the soil and carrying them to the food part of the plant (sunflower seeds), even though that part of the plant does not come in direct contact with soil with normal growing conditions.

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Key points to highlight based on the above set of data

1. When the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 was drafted, the proposed Action Level (level at which there is too much of a substance in a product intended for consumption by babies and young children) for Cadmium was set at just FIVE Parts Per Billion (5 ppb).
   • While the 5 ppb Action Level was the recommendation of the scientific and medical community at the time (given Cadmium is a known Carcinogen and was identified as a human Carcinogen over 30 years ago / it’s status as a carcinogen is not disputed at all), the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 was never passed into law.
   • There are currently no (USA) legal enforceable total content limits (as measured in ppb) for Cadmium in most foods (including many popular foods that children may eat on a daily basis — like peanut butter and Sun Butter).
2. There are some guidelines and limits (specifically internationally) for Cadmium content in Shellfish and Chocolate products – as well as new regs (as of 2023) for sunflower seeds and peanuts.
   • For context, the European Limit for milk chocolate candy that is less than 30% total cocoa mass is 100 ppb Cadmium
   • This 100 ppb limit is based on the assumption that chocolate candy is eaten relatively infrequently and in small quantities. For a food that was expected to be consumed more frequently and in higher quantities than chocolate candy (like Sunbutter!), one would expect the Cadmium limit to be lower than 100 ppb (if the U.S. government bothered to regulate that food product, which they currently do not).
   • You can read more about these limits here (chocolate) and here (shellfish).
   • The European Union has set a limit of 200 ppb for Cadmium in Peanut Products and a limit of 500 ppb for Cadmium in Sunflower seeds (2023 Regulation here)
     • These limits do not account for American consumption patterns (quantities of these foods typically consumed by Americans, and especially American children) for these products.
       • For example: Europeans consume far less peanut butter than do children in the United States – where it is a daily lunch box staple.
     • While even these European limits are not strict enough to be truly health protective, even these limits provide context which highlights how extremely concerning  the level of Cadmium we found in the Sunbutter product is.
3. Peanuts & Peanut Butter: Given all of the Peanut and Peanut Butter products we have tested to date through the Lead Safe Mama, LLC Community Collaborative Laboratory Testing Initiative have tested positive for Cadmium  — usually at levels far above 5 ppb — it is our recommendation at this time that children not eat Peanut Butter, especially if there is a history of cancer in their immediate family (parents, grandparents, siblings, etc.) You may evaluate these numbers and come to a different conclusion — deciding you are comfortable with the risk, but at least now you have some raw data to help you make that decision.
   • Other nut butters are likely safe options, see  point 6, below.
4. Sunflower Seeds & Sunbutter: We were simply astounded by the amount of Cadmium found in the Sunbutter product, and promptly filed a report with the FDA — although I do not believe any action was taken in response to our report. Report link here.
   • The level of Cadmium found in this product is extremely concerning and no child should be eating any foods made with this product as a primary ingredient (cookies, sandwiches, etc.)
   • We understand this may present a hardship for some, but feeding your child a product with a documented extremely high level of a known carcinogen as an alternative to peanut butter (as so many families do), is simply not an option that should be considered.
5. Sesame Seeds are another ground plant crop (not a tree), so it makes sense that they are also contaminated with Cadmium (noting the Tahini test results in this chart)
6. Tree Nuts: Based on the testing we have done to date — as evidenced by the data in the chart on this page — other nut and seed butters likely are healthier, cleaner, safer alternatives to peanut butter and sunflower seed butter. Our assertion / educated guess is that it is likely that ANY tree nut (walnuts, almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, pistachios, etc.) are a likely cleaner option, and we will continue to explore this topic further — testing more nuts as we have the resources to do so. To support this theory, we have the following examples: 
   • Organic Macadamia Nuts tested clean (although the lab we sent them to did not test to low enough thresholds of detection, and we would like to retest this product).
   • Organic Pistachios from Santa Barbara Pistachio company tested relatively clean. While only their pistachio flour is on the chart, we also tested their whole kernel pistachios and they had identical test results to the flour product.
     • While they did test positive for traces of Arsenic it is a relatively low level of Arsenic, likely from the groundwater on the farm where they are grown.
     • This company also makes a Pistachio Nut Butter  – which is delicious and may be a good alternative for some if they don’t have a concern for Arsenic consumption*.
     • Note: the conventional Pistachios that we tested (from the brand “Wonderful”) did not test clean.
   • Organic Almonds tested positive for toxicants (in the Anthony’s Organic Almond flour we tested).
     • As this is our only data point for a single ingredient almond product so far, we need to do more testing of Almonds to determine if they are contaminated in general or not.
     • It is possible that the almond flour product that we tested is contaminated with the levels of metals found (wholly or in part) as a result of the processing of the almonds into flour.
     • If I had to guess – I would expect the Arsenic to be present in the plant / growing and I would expect at least some of the Lead and Cadmium are possibly the result of processing.
7. To Recap: we are recommending avoiding / not consuming peanut butter / peanut products (peanut flavored products) in general, and we are also recommending that sunflower seed butter should NEVER be consumed, and especially not by children and pregnant women (or people with a history of cancer in their family). We are recommending using tree-nut butters instead (cashew butter, pistachio butter, almond butter, macadamia nut butter, walnut butter, etc.)

Reminder: There’s no safe level of Lead exposure for human beings. Please do take that into account in your decision-making process. The chart on this page is arranged only by the level of Cadmium found – not taking Lead levels into account. We are expressly not recommending the Anthony’s Organic Almond Flour and the Wonderful Pistachios as each of those products did test positive for concerning levels of Lead.

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Some additional reading that may be of interest:

• Our Sunflower Seed Overview Article
• Our Peanut Butter (in Plastic Jars) Overview Article

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Nut, Seed, Nut-Butter, Nut-Flour Articles with Lab Testing Reports

1. 365 Organic Whole Foods Market Macadamia Nuts – Not Yet Published
2. Santa Barbara Pistachio Company, Pistachio Flour — Organic
3. Wonderful Pistachio Nuts — Conventional
4. Anthony’s Organic Almond Flour 
5. 365 Whole Foods Market – Unsalted Peanuts — Conventional
6. Once Again Tahini — Organic (Single Ingredient, Sesame Seeds)
7. Santa Cruz Organic Peanut Butter 
8. Kirkland Signature Organic Peanut Butter
9. Sunbutter — Organic Sunflower Seed Butter

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What now? My family has been regularly consuming some of the more toxic products in this chart!

If you or your children have consumed any of the more toxic  products in this chart on a regular basis and if you therefore have concern for ongoing Cadmium exposure (given Cadmium is  a known Carcinogen), please consider reporting the product to the FDA. FDA Complaints by consumers who have actually used these products carry more weight than complaints that we file as an organization. Here’s the link to file an FDA Complaint:
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/index.cfm?action=reporting.home

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