Are you looking for the best peanut butter & other nut butter without toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”? Indications of Per & polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS, a class of man-made chemicals linked to adverse health effects, were found in peanut butter & other nut butters as part of a consumer study commissioned by Mamavation.
Since PFAS has already been found in everyday items like pasta sauce and makeup, Mamavation set about to find out if it was present in peanut butter and other nut butter like almond butter, cashew butter, hazelnut butter, pecan butter, tahini, & nut & seed butter. You’ve trusted Mamavation with topics like best air purifiers, safest cookware sans PFAS, & safest parchment paper sans PFAS, now join us for a consumer study on peanut butter and nut butter & indications of PFAS “forever chemicals.” Stick around till the end and we will share all the individual results of 33 popular nut butter products with you.
Disclosure: This consumer study is released in partnership with Environmental Health News. Scientific reviews were performed by (1) Terrence Collins, Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry & Director of Institute for Green Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, (2) Linda Birnbaum, Scientist Emeritus and Former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Toxicology Program, (3) Pete Myers, Chief Scientist at Environmental Health Sciences, Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University, and Co-Author of Our Stolen Future, & (4) Scott Belcher, Associate Professor with the Center for Environmental & Health Effects of PFAS at North Carolina State University. This post was medically reviewed by Sondra Strand, RN, BSN, PHN. Donations were provided by Environmental Health News and Mamavation community members. Mamavation has only “spot-checked” the industry and thus we cannot make predictions about brands and products that we have not tested. Products and manufacturing aides can change without notice so buyer beware. This post contains affiliate links, with some to Amazon, which means Mamavation will receive a portion of those sales and we will use that to pay ourselves back for the testing. You can also give a tax-deductible donation to our consumer studies here through Environmental Health Sciences. Click “yes” when asked if the gift is in honor of someone and type “Mamavation.” Thank you!
Table of Contents
Mamavation’s Main Findings of Peanut Butter & Other Nut Butters
PFAS “forever chemicals” are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances used as water-resistant, oil-resistant, and stain-resistant chemicals in commerce for decades. With over 12,000 different chemicals in their chemical class (including PFOA & PTFE), they are daunting to test and very difficult to identify. PFAS chemicals are considered ubiquitous, persistent, and toxic which is why they were dubbed “forever chemicals.” When they show up in food products, they are not added on purpose but are likely present due to manufacturing or packaging contamination of some kind in the supply chain.
Mamavation sent 33 products of nut butter to an EPA-certified laboratory to test for organic fluorine, which is a marker for PFAS “forever chemical” compounds. The nut butters included peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower butter, hazelnut butter, pecan butter, coconut butter, tahini, nut & seed butter, mixed butter, and soy-based butter. We purchased the products between September 2021 and February 2022 from Amazon.com, using Instacart, or in-store from retailers in Los Angeles and Boston.
Here are the main findings from Mamavation’s Nut Butter Consumer Study:
- 12% of nut butters tested at Mamavation’s EPA-certified lab had indications of PFAS “forever chemicals”, while 88% of nut butter tested did not. In other words, 4 out of 33 products contained indications of PFAS “forever chemicals.”
- According to our lab, levels of organic fluorine, a marker for PFAS, were found between 12 parts per million (ppm) to 32 parts per million (ppm).
- Products with detectable amounts of organic fluorine in 2021 were sent back to the lab in 2022 and tested again. All products tested again came back non-detect from our lab.
- 75% of the products with detectable levels of organic fluorine were USDA-certified organic products. In other words, 3 out of 4 detectable products were organic.
- The USDA organic certification does not have any rules or standards that prohibit use of PFAS as an indirect food additive used in manufacturing. Therefore, selecting an organic product does not mean you are selecting a PFAS-free product.
Industries Have Been Using PFAS “Forever Chemicals” For a Long Time
PFAS chemicals have been used for decades to create stain resistance, water resistance, and grease-proof qualities to which they are added. If you’ve heard of coatings such as “Teflon” on cookware, fabrics made from “Gore-tex” or treatments on carpets like “stain-master,” you’ve already heard about PFAS chemicals. Here’s more options:
- Textiles & Fabrics: PFAS chemicals are very commonly found in industries such as textiles & fabrics to create stain-resistance, water-resistance, or “sweat-wicking.” To help you here, Mamavation has tested athletic wear, sports bras, and period underwear. We’ve also conducted other consumer studies on bedding, children’s clothing, infant car seats, & jackets & raincoats.
- Food Packaging: In food packaging, they are used in popcorn bags, pizza boxes, fast food wrappers & canisters, and the flat dish on the bottom of cakes at the grocery store. Mamavation has also tested different parchment paper brands for indications of PFAS.
- Personal Care Products: Makeup has been notoriously guilty of using PFAS to create a waterproof or long-lasting effect in makeup products. So Mamavation tested the most popular green beauty makeup brands, and we are working on some other categories like tooth floss and feminine care products.
- Cookware: Most “non-stick” cookware is coated with PFAS chemicals, including some stainless steel cookware, and small kitchen appliances like air fryers. Check out Mamavation’s investigation on cookware.
- Carpeting & Flooring: PFAS has also been used in carpeting & flooring. Do you remember StainMaster™ carpet? That was PFAS. However, not all carpet has indications of PFAS. We recently tested one brand you can safely purchase. Mamavation also tested several bamboo flooring brands and found one brand that was free from PFAS.
- Furniture: Watch out for “stain-resistant” treatments on furniture.
- Fire Fighting Foam: PFAS was used in firefighting foams and they have unfortunately been used extensively around military bases and airports. If you live close to a military base or airport, check with your local water district to see if they have tested the water for PFAS.
- Metal Plating, Semiconductors, Lubrications & Coating Additives: Lots of industrial applications of PFAS are used to keep equipment from rusting, getting overheated, or provide water-resistant, or grease-resistant qualities.
- Drinking Water: Sadly, there are lots of places around the United States and all over the world that have drinking water contaminated with PFAS. Most of these areas are by military bases, airports, and other industrial parks that used PFAS for firefighting or other such uses. Luckily, Mamavation has done an investigation of the best water filters to remove PFAS.
- Car Wax, Ski Wax, & Surfboard Wax: Yes, you guessed it. PFAS is used here for its grease & water-resistant qualities.
- Some Processed Food: Mamavation has found indications of PFAS inside pasta & tomato sauces, cooking oils, and ketchup. We are presently working on other food categories right now to help.
Pete Myers, Chief Scientist at Environmental Health Sciences, Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University, and Co-Author of Our Stolen Future has some thoughts to add on how PFAS are found everywhere.
“Tragically, PFAS are ubiquitous. They are a classic example of chemicals of immense utility from a chemical (and profit) perspective, but with serious health effects their manufacturers choose to ignore and hide. But not only are they ubiquitous, but they are also forever. Natural biological processes in our bodies or in the environment are no match for their persistence. No wonder Mamavation is finding them everywhere.”
Problematic Health Effects Linked to PFAS “Forever Chemicals”
PFAS “forever chemicals” are problematic to human health and the environment. They are considered persistent, ubiquitous, and toxic. Many can last for years in our bodies. Therefore, it’s imperative to reduce the amount of PFAS you are exposed to from food and water.
Here’s a list of health effects PFAS chemicals are linked to presently:
- reduction in immunity
- reduced vaccination response
- increased risk of allergies & asthma in young children
- affect the growth, learning, and behavior of infants and older children
- increase cholesterol levels
- metabolic diseases like obesity & diabetes
- cardiovascular disease
- lower a woman’s chance of getting pregnant
- lowers male fertility
- smaller penis size
- increase the risk of kidney & testicular cancers
- Causes endocrine disruption
- Disrupts normal thyroid function
Linda Birnbaum, Scientist Emeritus and Former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Toxicology Program says “PFAS cause effects in males and females of animals and people in nearly every organ and at every life stage.”
If you feel like you’ve been exposed to PFAS, especially during pregnancy, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of Community Health Investigations has created this health advisory fact sheet to use when talking to your doctor. While regulatory authorities struggle to catch up, it would be wise to limit your daily exposure to PFAS markers within food like pasta sauce or ketchup. You don’t want indications of PFAS in your nut butter either.
How PFAS Can Get Into Peanut Butter & Other Nut Butters During Manufacturing
There are many ways that PFAS can contaminate peanut butter and other nut butters. From start to finish, peanut butter is a chore to produce with many steps needed to get it from nut to butter. It’s also possible that a raw ingredient could be contaminated somehow if other oils or other additives are used. Assuming the product is just peanuts & salt, here’s the full process of creating peanut butter, which is like how other nut butter is made (give or take a few steps).
In each step, if any part of the equipment is coated with a “non-stick” PTFE chemical like Teflon, or if a product touches fiberglass that contains PFAS, if the equipment is treated with fluorinated lubricants, or if any of the product touches fluorinated plastic, PFAS can leach into the nut butter. There are many opportunities where this can happen.
- Planting & harvesting–peanuts are planted in April and harvested from the ground in September. During the harvesting, peanuts are removed from their vines with manufacturing equipment called “portable mechanical pickers” and then delivered to warehouses for cleaning.
- Cleaning –the cleaning process uses “blowers” to remove dust, sand, dirt, vines, stems, leaves & empty shells.
- Shelling –this is the process by which the outer covering of the nut is removed. This process is where peanuts are passed through a series of rollers that crack them and then they repeatedly move through screens, blowers, magnets, and destoners. After this they are shaken, tumbled and air blown to ensure all the shells are removed.
- Dry roasting — This is a process by which heat is used without the use of oil or water. Peanuts will travel through an air roaster in a rocking motion that allows each nut to roast evenly. Meters indicate whether the cooking is complete and notice the change in color from white to light brown.
- Cooling — this is a process by which hot peanuts are passed into a perforated metal cylinder through suction fans and brought to 30 degrees Celsius.
- Blanching — in this process, the outer skins of the peanuts are removed by rubbing the peanuts together. The kernels are then split in two to remove the bitter heart of the peanut and then inspected on a conveyor belt. Because conveyor belts are sometimes made from fiberglass that has been treated with PFAS, this is also where PFAS can leach onto the peanuts.
- Grinding — during this process the peanuts are made into a paste and other ingredients (if used) are incorporated. It’s usually ground into a medium-size grind before it’s made into a fine smooth grind.
- Packing — Now it’s time to package the peanut butter into its jars–either glass or plastic. To prevent oxidation, manufacturers typically use vacuum packing when the peanut butter jars are being sealed. Jars are then labeled, placed in cartons, and stored. However, if the plastic that is used is fluorinated, trace amounts can get into the product.
While Mamavation is unsure how PFAS is getting into any specific batch of peanut butter and nut butter products we tested, the list above demonstrates the opportunities are legion. Food brands must guard against these possibilities.
Dr. Terrence Collins, Director of the Institute of Green Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University had something to say about the possibility of low dose toxicity of PFAS compounds in nut butters.
“Knowing what I know about the low dose toxicity of PFAS compounds, if I was running a nut butter company and someone told me PFAS compounds were in my products, I would have a fit. The top company priority immediately would be to get insidious PFAS compounds out of our nut butters. So I would have the personnel shift through everything from the nut planting and harvesting, cleaning, shelling, dry roasting, cooling, blanching, grinding and packing to prove to me that all PFAS potential sources had been identified and eliminated. I’d be just as worried about periodic as continuous sources of potential contamination. With its nut butter study, Mamavation has spotlit brands that have been looking really good in keeping their customer families safe from PFAS exposures and brands that needed a really good shake up. The good news is that nut butters that tested positive in 2021 were clean in 2022. Bravo Mamavation!”
How Do PFAS “Forever Chemicals” Get Into USDA Certified Organic Nut Butters?
We reached out to the Organic Trade Association to get a better understanding of how the USDA organic standards can impact the use of PFAS in food manufacturing. According to Reana Kovalcik, Director of Public Relations for the Organic Trade Association, “Certifiers review packaging and equipment as a potential source of contamination, but packaging material components like perchlorate or BPA (or PFAS) are regulated by the FDA and are classified as indirect food additives. PFAS as an indirect additive or residual contaminant is not specifically addressed by the organic regulations. Just like BPA, as an indirect additive, PFAS is outside of the scope of the NOP standards.” In other words, organic doesn’t prohibit the use of PFAS as an indirect additive in manufacturing.
The USDA Organic Standards do prohibit the use of biosolids (also known as “sewage sludge”) in use on the farm, which is really good news because wastewater treatment plants do not remove PFAS from sewage sludge. Thus, biosolids can contain PFAS. But in practical application, this may not matter because PFAS are so persistent and can stick around for decades in soil. Once they are on the land, they have staying power, which is why they are referred to as “forever chemicals.” Therefore, if biosolids were applied on farmland prior to gaining organic certification, they could still be present decades later. USDA organic certification does not require farmers to test their soil for PFAS so the consumer would have no way of assuring they were safe from PFAS through the organic certification.
Case in point, recently Songbird Farms, known for its heritage Maine grains, was the first organic farmstead (that only farms produce and not dairy or meat) to shut down its operations after finding PFAS on their property. They said in a statement on their website, “We were just blindsided to learn that our home farm and primary lease field were licensed for the spreading of bio-solids in the early 1990s, (24 years before we purchased our farm and moved to Unity).”
Therefore, the historic use of biosolids on an organic farm may impact the quality of what is produced on that farmstead. The organic food industry should evaluate the need of an addition to their certification process that tests and certifies food free from indications of PFAS and other types of plasticizers.
Demand Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Use Modern Science to Keep Our Families Safe
We know this is frustrating, but there are some ways you can help create change. Mamavation has joined with other organizations to demand the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) use modern science to keep our food and families safe. Join Mamavation, Consumer Reports, Environmental Working Group, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, Moms Clean Air Force, Environmental Defense Fund, and many others by vising ToxicFreeFoodFDA.org and follow the prompts to send a letter to the FDA to demand the following:
- Revoke existing approvals for per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging and foodservice ware.
- Close the “Generally Recognized As Safe” aka “GRAS” loophole that the industry uses to self-certify the safety of new additives in secrecy
- Begin the process of modernizing the FDA’s scientific approach to assess the safety of chemicals in food. (Here’s more on that perspective and what the FDA will need to do from our main scientific advisor Pete Myers, Chief Scientist at Environmental Health Sciences, Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University, and Co-Author of Our Stolen Future.)
- Ban ortho-phthalates in food contact articles, and lead as an additive to food handling equipment.
- Resolve two lawsuits regarding perchlorate in food contact articles.
- Create an office to reassess the safety of existing chemical additives to food to complement the Office of Food Additive Safety which is focused on new chemical safety reviews. Seek federal funding to support the office.
Final Results from Mamavation’s Investigation on Peanut Butters & Other Nut Butters
Mamavation sent 33 different brands and products of nut butter to the lab looking for organic fluorine, a test for PFAS “forever chemicals.” The products consisted of peanut butter, cashew butter, nut & seed butter, hazelnut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, sesame seed butter (tahini), & pecan butter.
Mamavation’s lab used marker testing to identify the potential presence of PFAS “forever chemicals” in nut butter products. Organic fluorine is a marker for PFAS because all PFAS chemicals are carbon-based compounds that contain fluorine. The specific lab method used by Mamavation tested for total fluorine was the Determination of Total Fluorine by Oxygen Flask Combustion and Ion-Selective Electrode. If total fluorine was observed at a detection level of 10ppm, the lab did the Determination of free Fluoride Ion in the nut butter by Ion-Selective Electrode and then subtracted that from the Total Fluorine to determine the amount of organic fluorine. We then retested the same nut butters that had a detection many months later to see if they were still present.
Important note–There is currently no consensus on how to spot-check nut butter for PFAS. All methods at this point are non-validated. They nonetheless can still be used in revealing the presence of organic fluorine and spot-checking for indications of PFAS. Other contaminants that can be present in organic fluorine are fluorinated pesticides and fluorinated pharmaceuticals, both also concerning.
Scott Belcher, Ph.D. & Associate Professor with the Center for Environmental & Health Effects of PFAS at North Carolina State University says “fluoropolymers, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or Teflon®, are extremely common forms of PFAS that could be contributing to the organic fluorine found in food products. Methods used for detecting individual PFAS, such as PFOA or GenX, cannot directly identify PTFE. However, the analysis of total organic fluorine does account for all PFAS contaminants in food, including PTFE. Therefore, this serves as a good ‘spot-check’ of consumer products.”
Finally, we separated the list into the following categories to help with your shopping needs:
- “Not Our Favorite” list of nut butter consists of brands and products that tested for detectable organic fluorine at any time (either in 2021 or 2022) according to our lab.
- “Better” products have had non-detectable results at the laboratory but are not USDA-certified organic brands.
- “Best” are both USDA certified organic, but also had non-detectable results.
Not Our Favorite Peanut Butters & Other Nut Butters
Our EPA-certified lab found organic fluorine, a marker of PFAS, in these products. We do not recommend you purchase these products.
- Artisana Organic Cashew Butter — 32 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine in 2021, non-detect organic fluorine in 2022.
- Nutzo Organic Chocolate 7 Seed Nut Butter — 12 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine in 2021, non-detect organic fluorine in 2022.
- Smuckers Goober Strawberry & Peanut Butter — 17 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine in 2021, non-detect organic fluorine in 2022.
- Teddie Organic Peanut Butter — 18 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine in 2021, non-detect organic fluorine in 2022.
Better Peanut Butter & Other Nut Butters
The companies in this category had non-detect laboratory results at a detection level of 10 parts per million (ppm), yet they are not USDA organic. Because these nut butters are not organic, they can contain amounts of other toxic pesticides and contaminants that could be harmful.
- Barney Almond Butter Smooth — non-detect organic fluorine
- Fix & Fogg Almond Butter Cashew & Maple — non-detect organic fluorine
- Jif Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Justin’s Classic Peanut Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Kroger Creamy Peanut Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Laura Scudder’s All Natural Old Fashioned Peanut Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Natural Maranatha California Almond Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Purely Pecans Sea Salt Y’ll Pecan Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- RX Nut Butter Vanilla Almond Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Soom Premium Tahini — non-detect organic fluorine
- SunButter Natural Sunflower Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Thrive Market Peanut Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Wild Friends Almond Cashew Super Butter with Honey, Chia & Flax — non-detect organic fluorine
- Wowbutter Natural Peanut Free Creamy Jar — n0n-detect organic fluorine
- YumButter Almond Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
Best Peanut Butter & Other Nut Butters
These brands are the ones we are recommending. The companies in this category had non-detect laboratory results at a detection level of 10 parts per million (ppm) AND they are USDA organic.
- Blue Stripes Organic Chocolate Hazelnut Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- CB’s Nuts Organic Peanut Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Kirkland Organic Almond Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Nutiva Organic Coconut Manna — non-detect organic fluorine
- O Organics Old Fashioned Creamy Organic Peanut Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Once Again Organic Unsweetened Creamy Cashew Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Once Again Organic Unsweetened Creamy Sunflower Seed Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Pepperwood Organic Ethiopian Sesame Tahini — non-detect organic fluorine
- Philosopher Foods Sprouted Almond Butter Naked Creamy — non-detect organic fluorine
- Rawmio Organic Chocolate Hazelnut — non-detect organic fluorine
- Santa Cruz Organic Creamy Peanut Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
- Simple Organic Peanut Butter — non-detect organic fluorine
Other Mamavation PFAS Testing Projects
Mamavation has been working hard to discover where to find PFAS “forever chemicals” inside food & other products we purchase and bring inside our homes. Therefore, we have decided to commission our own consumer studies on indications of PFAS in different consumer categories and share that information with you.
- Soft Contact Lenses
- Green Beauty Makeup
- Dental Floss
- Toilet Paper
- Period Underwear
- Tampons
- Sanitary Pads, Pantiliners, & Incontinence Pads
- Powdered Electrolytes
- Butter Wrappers
- Pasta & Tomato Sauces
- Nut Butters (Peanut butter, etc.)
- Cooking Oils (olive oil, almond oil, canola oil, etc)
- Ketchup
- Activewear (Yoga Pants)
- Sports Bras
- Parchment Paper
- Cupcake Liners
- Plastic-Free Straws
- Fast Food Packaging
- Children’s Probiotics
- Kids’ Backpacks
- Baby Strollers
We also have investigations you may like on other categories.
Earth Mama Organics Sunscreen PFAS “Forever Chemical” Results
I wonder why the Kirkland organic peanut butter wasn’t tested, but the Kirkland almond butter was. Did they forget to post that?
I’ve been trying to find plastic-free peanut butter. Even if I buy the peanuts, roast & grind them on my own, it’s difficult to find a plastic-free grinder/blender/food processor. I hope you can do an article on that.
wow your article is very interesting and usefull for my bussiness. thank’s for the delicious recipe. now i will made it for my family.
Thank you so much for your work and concise lists. My head spins doing my best to protect my family. For peanut butters I have been on the hunt for valencia peanut butter (low in aflatoxins), organic, no added ingredients (palm oil, etc) and come in a glass jar.
Trader joes has one but it comes in plastic, sigh… I found a small company named East Wind Crafts. Would love if they could make your next round of testing!
https://eastwindcrafts.com/products/organic-peanut-butter-smooth-no-salt-16-oz
Wow nut better come under best nut butter? It has palm oil and also soy
Hi, I found a small company organic PB in glass jars, at Whole foods.
The brand is CB’s nuts, love it…
Thank you so much for your investigations. Can you give some clarification? Of the four nut butters listed in the “Not Our Favorite” list, they each had detectable PFAS in 2021, and non-detect in 2022. Earlier you state all products were bought between September 2021 and February 2022, so at most they would have been dated 5 months apart, correct? What would have changed in that short of time that each of the four showed a “non-detect” the second time around. It seems suspicious to me. Could it have something to do with the time of year? Maybe during the cooler weather of early 2022, the PFAS don’t leech out of the packaging so easily? But in September, when the weather is sometimes at it hottest, more leeching of PFAS might have been a result.
My favorite nut butter is Nutzo. I love the blended flavor and texture (‘Ive never used the chocolate variety though, … never even seen it or I might have tried it). Nutzo comes in a plastic container (that does concern me). I’ve been considering making my own (I’ve made my own peanut butter before). That way I can also pre-soak my nuts in salt water and then dry them as recommended by the Weston A. Price organization.
Why did you test each of the “Not our favorite” nut butters a second time? Were the products in the other categories tested twice?
I had the same question! Actually it looks like all those nut butters are PFA free as of 2022… the latest testing… so why are they still “not out favorite”?
(I’m also a NuttZo fan!)
Hi, I found a small company organic PB in glass jars, at Whole foods.
The brand is CB’s nuts, love it…
Typo in my comment, sorry! My name should be: Kathryn Oliver-Garnett.
I just read this article; I know it’s from a year or two ago, but I want you and your readers to know that there is a whole group of dedicated volunteer lobbyists who work with the Organic Trade Association and the Organic Farmers Association who are tirelessly working to CHANGE the national organic standard to include specific requirements for packaging and handling of organic foods to eliminate contact with toxic chemicals, including PFAS. My husband is one of these people. In fact, he’s headed to DC in a couple of weeks to do just this! We grow certified organic grain at the edge of the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and it is an uphill struggle to get the entrenched “conventional” ways of doing things to change. We are a (very – 90 acres) small farm and decided to buy our own seed cleaner machine (look those up — even “small” ones are thousands of $$!) so that we could offer truly organic seed and grain mixes to organic poultry farmers and distillers. Also, we have devised a way of storing our own grain for future crops so that we don’t have to use the commercial seed cleaning companies for grain storage because when we did, we discovered, by testing (that we paid for ourselves because they wouldn’t), that our organic grain was contaminated by the pesticides and fungicides left behind in the company’s grain storage bins from all the years of conventional grain stored there! It does not surprise me that you found traces of PFAS in organic products from their containers or wrappers. Until we can get the USDA to back us (meaning organic farmers and consumers) and extend their regulations to the packaging, whatever sort of packaging the food requires, there will be traces of chemicals in the food. Never believe that your pressure on companies and governmental organizations is wasted or ignored — keep up that pressure however you can — vote with your dollars AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU DID AND WHY — THEY NEED TO KNOW!! Farmers who take time away from their work at about the only time they can, in late winter, to go to Washington DC and talk directly with lawmakers are doing the absolute best they can to change this state of affairs — but they cannot do it alone! Consumers must keep up the work all the rest of the year (or look into doing some lobbying — the OTA or OFA would certainly appreciate it!) and let lawmakers know that this is IMPORTANT and they must be held to account to change! Off my soapbox now; hard to be neutral when you have a vested interest! Thank you to everyone who writes letters, makes phone calls, and sends emails. BUT — a letter makes more impact than an email and repeated phone calls are tracked even if you never reach a real person. If you actually go with a group (3 or 4 or more) and make an appointment to talk to your (state or national) senator’s or representative’s office and bring an easy-to-read and nicely presented report that’s just a page or two (and maybe a nice button or stickers for the staff!), that makes the most impact. Good luck! KEEP THE PRESSURE ON AND THE TOPIC FRONT AND CENTER.
Thank you so much for what you do !!! You are amazing!!!
Since, of course, you can’t test every product, I’m guessing that, if a brand comes out clean on one product, we can take an informed guess that the brand is fairly likely to be clean on its other products. That would make sense, right? For example, we use Once Again Peanut Butter. Their Cashew Butter was “no detect” on your list, so I’m betting that I’ve got a good brand there. Hope that makes sense.
It is really troubling how pervasive all of these PFAS chemicals are…. I’ve been aware of the dangers of Teflon, and Glide floss and things like that for a long time. But I never could have guessed that they would be in organic peanut butter…. Is any of this regulated more strongly in the EU? Is this basically a worldwide failure or one of our pathetically inadequate regulatory system (largely in the pocket of corporations)?
For the not-your-favorite brands of nut butters, most of them were non-detects as of 2022. Do you continue to not recommend them because you’re worried that they might still have contamination within parts of their supply chain? Or are some of these now better options to eat?
Wondering specifically about Artisana 🙁
Hello! So I connected Artisana because my son has been obsessed with their cashew since he was a toddler and I found this article concerning. I appreciate mamavation making these informative lists but it threw me off. I feel Artisana shouldn’t be on their not recommended list anymore. This was the reply from Artisana which made me feel better and it included a report that I cannot attach. I highly recommend reaching out to the company you want to learn more about.
From Artisana:
We actually contacted them when this came out (mamavation) and asked them to share the lot number from the first “failed” test and they were not able to give us that lot number so we could test same lot on our end. We were not able to duplicate therefore we asked them to remove this from their website.
The second test they ran, passed with no issues. We immediately ran tests for fluorine / PFAS at an independent lab, on each one of our products, and there was none detected in any of the tests. We test items multiple times per year on each of our products and none have ever been detected.
I hope this helps you make an informed decision on Artisana and your family consuming our products. We will continue requesting the article be revised or taken down and we can only hope people like you will continue reaching out to us to get our side of the issue resolved.
I have attached a screen shot here for the cashew butter test results from a recent test and none detected was the final result. We will continue testing as we agree PFAS is not something we wish to be in our products. Thank you Have a great day!
thank you so much spider solitaire 2 suit
I also employ this I want to know bitlife
Is free meaning 0 or just not 10 parts as your text states? We want zero… so is the test just covering if it’s under 10?
At this present moment, it’s not possible to know about ALL PFAS chemicals down to the ppt. This is by design. There are over 12,000 of these chemicals and assays to identify them only exist for about 100-110 of these chemicals in a really good lab. So there are 11,900+ that are left over and we can’t identify. Then when you start operating tests like mine looking for indications of PFAS, you can’t go down that low yet. We are kinda stuck at 10ppm until the testing ability gets better.
When you test water, you can go down into the ppt, but you won’t be able test the full picture, only very small parts of it. You’ll only know about specific chemicals but not the full picture. That’s about as far down as we can go right now and look at ALL the PFAS chemicals at the same time. If you try to go down lower, you lose the ability to asses all the organic fluorine. You basically lose the ability to look into thousands of PTFE-type chemicals. There’s lots of “extraction” type tests that exclude polymers so you could have Teflon and would never know it because the test would say non-detect. So we are testing at a level that you can actually find things, including any polymer made with organic fluorine.
Just learning about PFAs through your other articles. It’s crazy how they get away with this.
Thank you for all the testings that you do!
I like the Nuttzo power fuel. I see that their chocolate 7 seed is on the worst list. Does this mean all their nut butters are on the worst list?
This brand was started by a mother who needed to help her two adopted boys with nutrition. It’s a small company that has a program to help other children have access to nutrition. So, I’m wondering if there’s a way to let her know what you found, with the testing results, etc., so she has the opportunity of making changes to eliminate PFAS.
I’m not sure. We only tested one product, so anything is possible.
Thank you for testing and researching all of the harmful potential products we eat and also apply to our skin. It’s nice to know that we all have choices and you provide us with some alternatives.
What about “Kirkland nut butter with seeds?”
It’s Not organic. Usually everything I buy is and mostly glass jars. This is in a plastic container.
I also use this…I’d like to know
Question: I see that you recommend Bragg AC Vinegar, so am I correct in assuming that no lead leaches from the bottle into the product? I cannot find any reference here or elsewhere online to lead content of foods sold in glass bottles or jars. I am mainly concerned about AC vinegar because I thought the acid might be problematic. (Or is that solely with old-style CUT glass decanters? I remember that in the Eighties I made my mother throw out her nice table decanters (but that still left the glass bottles they came in!)
Thank you so much for doing this! I found my almond butter on the best list, happy about that. Would you consider also testing Trader Joe’s brand nut butters? We eat them all the time and love them but I’d love to see if they’re safe. Thanks again!
I am curious in this also. Does it come in glass? I was reading about antimony leaching into PB from plastic. I also read Trader Joes brand is low in aflatoxins.
Yay!
I am so glad BARNEY Almond Butter, Smooth, made the better list!
Thanks so much for all you do Mamavation!
Can you/do you have a post for the best Manuka or organic honey?
Thanks again!
We tested Heavenly Organics honey the other day and that was non-detect. They also are glyphosate-residue free certified, so I’d recommend that brand.
I really would LOVE to hear about Artisana’s OTHER nut butters. They made it to the worst offenders for the CASHEWbutter but where was the almond and Tahini. TheirRaw Organic Almond Butter is truely my favorite for taste, texture, glass jar, organic…. You must have tested these as well. Where did they fall in the list from terrible to bbest??
We did not test every product from every brand. With limited resources, we decided to sample different nut butters and different brands.
What about Santa Cruz organic crunchy?
So only one type of Artisana was tested? And it ended up being the highest?! I am floored. That brand is organic, in glass jars, and very expensive. I hope we can have more testing of their other nut butters soon to see if they all have PFAS. Keep up the good work!
I would always reach out to companies directly too. We had consumed so much of Artisana cashew butter and continue to do so. So when I read this, I was alarmed. i reached out directly to them and was satisfied with their reply.
I’ll share here in case it helps others:
We actually contacted them when this came out and asked them to share the lot number from the first “failed” test and they were not able to give us that lot number so we could test same lot on our end. We were not able to duplicate therefore we asked them to remove this from their website.
The second test they ran, passed with no issues. We immediately ran tests for fluorine / PFAS at an independent lab, on each one of our products, and there was none detected in any of the tests. We test items multiple times per year on each of our products and none have ever been detected.
I hope this helps you make an informed decision on Artisana and your family consuming our products. We will continue requesting the article be revised or taken down and we can only hope people like you will continue reaching out to us to get our side of the issue resolved.
I have attached a screen shot here for the cashew butter test results from a recent test and none detected was the final result. We will continue testing as we agree PFAS is not something we wish to be in our products. Thank you Have a great day!