DATA AB 899 Ingredients · 18,124 Lots

Is your baby’s food
actually safe?

A new California law forced baby-food brands to test every lot for lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury.

They tried to make it hard to see the data. I unlocked it for everyone to see.

I turned 18,124 test results into a 60-second quiz to teach you not just what brands did best and worst, but what ingredients to love, and what ones to stay away from.

Read the full study →

Lots tested: 18,124
Failed at least once: 13.1%
Brands audited: 32
To check yours: 60 sec

which brands fail least, and which fail most

The cleanest, and the worst.

Ranked by share of lots that exceeded at least one action level under AB 899 (lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury). Only brands with ≥ 100 lots in the dataset qualify.

Cleanest 10

lowest failure rate, 100+ lots

Once Upon a Farm

318 lots · worst: cadmium

2.1%fail

Cerebelly

142 lots · worst: lead

2.8%fail

Serenity Kids

196 lots · worst: lead

3.1%fail

Little Spoon

288 lots · worst: cadmium

3.5%fail

Amara

164 lots · worst: lead

4.2%fail

Yumi

224 lots · worst: cadmium

4.8%fail

Tiny Organics

178 lots · worst: lead

5.6%fail

Square Baby

122 lots · worst: arsenic

6.4%fail

Happy Family Organics

1,104 lots · worst: lead

7.8%fail

Sprout Organics

616 lots · worst: cadmium

9.1%fail

Includes direct-to-consumer and organic-leaning brands. “Worst” = the metal with the highest share of failed lots.

Worst 10

highest failure rate, 100+ lots

Earth’s Best Organic

1,842 lots · worst: lead

24.6%fail

Beech-Nut

1,504 lots · worst: lead

22.3%fail

Plum Organics

1,018 lots · worst: cadmium

20.9%fail

Gerber

2,612 lots · worst: lead

18.7%fail

Parent’s Choice (Walmart)

482 lots · worst: arsenic

17.2%fail

HappyBaby (rice lines)

310 lots · worst: arsenic

16.1%fail

Nurture Life

248 lots · worst: cadmium

14.8%fail

Nestlé / Cerelac

414 lots · worst: arsenic

14.1%fail

Bobo’s Oat Bars (kids)

148 lots · worst: cadmium

13.6%fail

Enfamil (reconstituted)

332 lots · worst: lead

12.8%fail

Rice-based products, teething biscuits, and leafy-green purees carry the highest per-category failure rates.

See the full brand-level filter & every failed lot →

your kitchen

the 60-second diet audit

Is your baby’s diet safe?

Eight questions, brand, frequency, age, product mix, and we calculate an estimated daily heavy-metal exposure (µg/day) for your specific feeding pattern. Then we recommend three concrete swaps and email the full breakdown.

ingredient-level breakdown

What's actually in the food, by metal.

Brands aren't the right unit of analysis. Ingredients are. A rice-based puff and an oat-based puff from the same brand tell completely different stories. Below, the full 18,124-lot dataset broken out for each of the four regulated metals, click a metal to expand.

Sorted by fail rate (share of lots that exceeded that metal's AB-899 action level). "Peak ppb" = the single worst test value across all lots.

🟥 Lead (Pb), 15 ingredients

Lead accumulates from soil residue (leaded gasoline era, historic paint, industrial fallout). Root vegetables, tubers, and dried ingredients concentrate it more than fresh fruits.

Ingredient	Lots	Fail rate	Peak ppb	Worst lot
Sunflower Seed 1 brand	8	75.0%	13.0 ppb	sprout_organics Smash Bar Made with Banana, Plant-Based Protein, a
Fig 1 brand	12	58.3%	84.0 ppb	Babylife Organics 112026-Raspberry & Fig Oat Bar
Trail Mix 1 brand	2	50.0%	28.1 ppb	mission_mightyme Trail Mix - Organic Peanut Butter Strawberry
Almond 2 brands	37	13.5%	20.8 ppb	puffworks Baby Organic Almond Butter Puffs 0.5 oz
Nut Butter 4 brands	217	11.5%	28.1 ppb	mission_mightyme Trail Mix - Organic Peanut Butter Strawberry
Peanut 4 brands	176	11.4%	28.1 ppb	mission_mightyme Trail Mix - Organic Peanut Butter Strawberry
Puff 7 brands	544	6.8%	65.8 ppb	Yumi Strawberry & Basil Rice Free Puffs
Pea 16 brands	339	6.5%	47.6 ppb	Yumi Berry & Sweet Pea Rice Free Puffs- Canister
Bar 8 brands	312	6.4%	84.0 ppb	Babylife Organics 112026-Raspberry & Fig Oat Bar
Elderberry 1 brand	64	6.2%	22.0 ppb	once_upon_a_farm Apple, Cherry & Elderberry Immunity Blend
Teether 2 brands	428	6.1%	35.0 ppb	Happy Baby Organics Happy Baby Teethers Pea & Spinach Teethers
Broccoli 7 brands	143	5.6%	57.8 ppb	Yumi Apple Broccoli Rice Free Puffs- Canister
Snack Crunch 5 brands	1173	5.4%	19.0 ppb	little_bellies Organic Cinnamon Bun Softcorn
Raspberry 9 brands	435	4.8%	84.0 ppb	Babylife Organics 112026-Raspberry & Fig Oat Bar
Cherry 2 brands	83	4.8%	22.0 ppb	once_upon_a_farm Apple, Cherry & Elderberry Immunity Blend

What to do: Rotate ingredients. Avoid monotonous cinnamon / cassava / sweet-potato diets. Prefer fresh whole food over processed purees where you know the supply chain.

🟧 Arsenic (As), 15 ingredients

Inorganic arsenic comes from irrigation water and paddy cultivation. Rice is the dominant source, rice plants are exceptionally good at pulling arsenic out of flooded groundwater.

Ingredient	Lots	Fail rate	Peak ppb	Worst lot
Rusk Rice Cake 1 brand	76	100%	98.7 ppb	aldi_little_journey Little Journey® Rice Rusks Apple
Fig 1 brand	12	100%	15.4 ppb	Babylife Organics 112026-Raspberry & Fig Oat Bar
Teether 2 brands	428	99.1%	137.0 ppb	Happy Baby Organics Happy Baby Teethers Sweet Potato & Banana Teethers
Amaranth 2 brands	136	98.5%	82.1 ppb	Happy Baby Organics Happy Baby Teether Crackers Strawberry & Beet with
Rice 5 brands	132	71.2%	98.7 ppb	aldi_little_journey Little Journey® Rice Rusks Apple
Almond 2 brands	37	67.6%	35.1 ppb	puffworks Baby Organic Almond Butter Puffs 1.0 oz
Turmeric 3 brands	33	27.3%	34.7 ppb	serenity_kids Pouch, Sweet Potato Turmeric with Organic Coconut
Bar 8 brands	312	23.1%	21.0 ppb	beechnut Strawberry Oaty Bars
Nut Butter 4 brands	217	21.7%	35.1 ppb	puffworks Baby Organic Almond Butter Puffs 1.0 oz
Beet 14 brands	868	17.7%	82.1 ppb	Happy Baby Organics Happy Baby Teether Crackers Strawberry & Beet with
Sweet Potato 18 brands	1963	17.7%	137.0 ppb	Happy Baby Organics Happy Baby Teethers Sweet Potato & Banana Teethers
Potato 19 brands	1968	17.7%	137.0 ppb	Happy Baby Organics Happy Baby Teethers Sweet Potato & Banana Teethers
Wheat 1 brand	108	16.7%	32.0 ppb	Nestum/Cerelac Wheat Cereal with Milk
Cereal 8 brands	755	16.0%	95.0 ppb	Nestum/Cerelac Nestum 3 Cereals 14.1 oz Canister
Puff 7 brands	544	15.6%	35.1 ppb	puffworks Baby Organic Almond Butter Puffs 1.0 oz

What to do: Diversify grains. Swap plain rice cereal for oatmeal, quinoa, or barley. If you use rice, vary the brand AND the origin.

🟨 Cadmium (Cd), 8 ingredients

Cadmium is taken up by leafy greens, seeds, and cocoa (most naturally cadmium-accumulating plant category). Fertilizer application of phosphates also pushes soil Cd up over decades.

Ingredient	Lots	Fail rate	Peak ppb	Worst lot
Sunflower Seed 1 brand	8	75.0%	79.0 ppb	sprout_organics Smash Bar Made with Banana, Plant-Based Protein, a
Bar 8 brands	312	1.9%	79.0 ppb	sprout_organics Smash Bar Made with Banana, Plant-Based Protein, a
Peanut 4 brands	176	1.1%	46.7 ppb	mission_mightyme Organic Peanut Butter Strawberry
Nut Butter 4 brands	217	0.9%	46.7 ppb	mission_mightyme Organic Peanut Butter Strawberry
Beet 14 brands	868	0.2%	45.0 ppb	once_upon_a_farm Strawberry, Pumpkin & Beet Tractor Wheels
Banana 22 brands	3988	0.2%	79.0 ppb	sprout_organics Smash Bar Made with Banana, Plant-Based Protein, a
Pumpkin Squash 17 brands	1412	0.1%	45.0 ppb	once_upon_a_farm Strawberry, Pumpkin & Beet Tractor Wheels
Strawberry 17 brands	2353	0.1%	46.7 ppb	mission_mightyme Organic Peanut Butter Strawberry

What to do: Cadmium deserves more attention than lead in food, detected in 61% of FDA TDS samples vs 15% for lead. See the realist’s guide to cadmium in food.

⬛ Mercury (Hg), 2 ingredients

Methylmercury bioaccumulates in predator fish (tuna, swordfish, king mackerel) and is rare in land-grown crops. When it shows up in baby food, it’s traced to fish-containing formulas or cross-contamination at shared facilities.

Ingredient	Lots	Fail rate	Peak ppb	Worst lot
Mango 17 brands	1322	0.1%	17.8 ppb	amara Mango Carrot
Carrot 20 brands	1405	0.1%	17.8 ppb	amara Mango Carrot

What to do: Avoid high-mercury fish for children under 2. Mercury guide.

Source: AB 899 lot-level data across 32 brands, September 2024 , April 2026. Full methodology, brand-level breakdown, and format cross-cuts: the long study.

your food isn’t the only variable

Let’s check your house too.

Given what you told us, your baby’s total lead exposure is probably bigger than food alone. Two more quick paths, then come back to food with confidence.

quiz, 90 sec

Map your home-exposure risk

Year built, paint history, dishware, water source, job exposures. Get a calibrated risk read and a to-do list ranked by impact.

deep dive

The Lead Framework

Where lead lives in a house, how to find it, how to abate it properly (not the way that makes it worse). The full field guide.

Leave lead in the past. Test what they eat, test what they touch, fix what’s fixable. Then get on with life.

Get the FluoroSpec kit, 10% off →

close the loop

End lead poisoning in your household today.

Understand your diet, your risk at home, and learn how to leave lead in the past.

I make FluoroSpec. I use digital technology to put every bit of lead knowledge I have to work keeping you as safe as humanly possible. , Eric Ritter

$75 kit · 10% off with SPIN10 · Double Kit upgrade offered at checkout

The ingredient guide in 5 lines.

Five ingredient categories drive most failures. Rice, sweet potato, carrot, leafy greens, and oat-based products top the list. These ingredients absorb metals through soil, not processing.
Rice-based products, teething biscuits, and leafy-green purees have the highest per-category failure rates. If your baby eats these daily, the cumulative dose adds up fast.
The cleanest categories are fruit purees, legume-based foods, and fresh-only blends. Brands that center fresh ingredients and skip grain-heavy formulations tend to have the lowest failure rates.
The 60-second diet audit estimates your baby’s daily heavy-metal exposure. Answer 8 questions about brand, frequency, and age, and get a dose estimate compared to the FDA Interim Reference Level.
You can reduce exposure without switching every product. Rotating out the highest-risk ingredients a few times per week cuts cumulative dose significantly for most feeding patterns.

Take the diet audit →

lead database / baby food (48,279 records) →

the underlying database that powers this analysis. raw rows, all sources, sortable by metal and µg/kg, downloadable as CSV under CC-BY-SA.