The Truth About Toxins in Spinach

Spinach is a go-to superfood packed with vitamins and nutrients. Its health benefits have been extolled by parents at the dinner table and by Popeye the sailor man on Saturday morning cartoons.

What if testing spinach products tells a different story? What if certain tested products had elevated levels of cadmium – a heavy metal commonly used in household batteries? Would you want to know?  Would you make different choices for your go-to health food?

As You Sow has tested a range of spinach products over the past three years, showing that many spinach samples had levels of cadmium above the State of California’s “safe harbor” level at recommended serving sizes.  See Table.

Exposure to Cadmium. Peer-reviewed scientific studies show that human exposure to the heavy metal cadmium can cause cancer, birth defects, and other reproductive harm, and may damage the kidneys, lungs, and bones, while also having the potential to impair neurobehavioral development. Absorption of cadmium from the diet is likely higher in newborns and infants than in adults, and children may have higher overall exposure to cadmium than adults.

The problem of cadmium in spinach is well-documented (e.g. FDA Total Diet Study from 1991-2017; Wolnik et al (1985)) yet the majority of the spinach industry has failed to take effective steps to reduce consumers’ exposure to this harmful metal, or provide the warning required by California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act  (known as the “Toxic Enforcement Act”).

Informed Choice. To allow consumers to make informed choices about the products they buy, the Toxic Enforcement Act requires that companies provide warning labels when the product contains a listed chemical, unless the company can demonstrate exposures are below safe harbor levels established under the Act. For chemicals causing reproductive toxicity such as cadmium, the Act establishes a “Maximum Allowable Dose Level.” Unfortunately, to date, most spinach companies are not providing a warning to California consumers even when testing of individual samples from many companies has revealed significant levels of cadmium.

Testing Results. As You Sow has conducted independent laboratory testing of more than 174 spinach samples for cadmium. The Maximum Allowable Dose Level (MADL) for reproductive toxicity established under California’s Toxic Enforcement Act is 4.1 micrograms per day. Our test results indicate cadmium levels ranged from 0.9 up to 107.1 (26x MADL) micrograms (μg) per serving of spinach. Of the 174 samples tested, 150 contained cadmium exceeding the MADL of 4.1 micrograms per serving.

Legal Action. As a result of its testing, As You Sow filed legal notices under the Toxic Enforcement Act with more than 20 companies, including major brands such as Del Monte, General Mills, Chiquita, Safeway, Kroger, Target, Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, Whole Foods, Earthbound Farms, Bird’s Eye, and Organic Girl for failing to warn consumers that the spinach products they produce and/or sell may expose consumers to levels of cadmium above the MADL.

Similar to work As You Sow has done to address lead and cadmium in chocolate, we seek to move the spinach industry to either reduce the levels of cadmium in spinach products sold in California below the MADL per serving, or provide consumers with warnings, so they can make informed choices for themselves and their families.

Take Action. You as a consumer can help make a difference by letting companies know that you take this issue seriously. If your preferred spinach brand is in our spinach tracker showing samples with cadmium above the MADL per serving, call, tweet, or otherwise ask the company to remove or reduce any cadmium in its spinach supply chain.

CADMIUM TESTING

As You Sow has tested, at independent state-certified laboratories, levels of cadmium in spinach products sold at retailers across California. The chart below reflects testing of spinach samples performed between 2019 and 2021. The samples designated as red in the chart indicate that a serving of the tested product exceeded 4.1 μg per serving. Serving sizes were calculated as reported on the package or per FDA guidance where a serving size was not available. The Maximum Allowable Dose Level for cadmium established by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is 4.1 μg per day. See our FAQ for more information on how we test these products and calculate exposures. 

*Certain samples of products denoted with an * in this chart were found, by testing at an independent and certified laboratory, to contain lead in excess of the Maximum Allowable Dose Level for lead established by OEHHA, which is 0.5 micrograms (μg) per day.