Lovebird is 3rd Party Tested
Lovebird is committed to 3rd party testing and holding our cereal to the highest standard for heavy metals, glyphosate, gluten, and other toxins. Our cassava is compliant with California's strict Prop 65 standards AND the even more strict European Commission limit for children of 20PPB.
The honest truth is that heavy metals are prevalent in almost every food you eat due to naturally occurring "organic" amounts and some "inorganic" amounts due to the quality of soil and our industrial farming practices. For example, a whole sweet potato from the grocery store can contain ~55 PPB of lead, which is higher than the Prop 65 and European Commission limit.
Some crops are more prone to absorbing specific metals than other plants. For example, rice naturally absorbs more arsenic, lettuce and onions accumulate lead more readily, and spinach and carrots accumulate cadmium more easily. Similar to lettuce, carrots, and onions; root vegetables are suspectable to lead given how they are grown.
It does not mean all fruits, vegetables, and grains are harmful, and we should avoid eating them—quite the opposite, as fruits and vegetables are essential to a healthy diet. Remember, the presence of a hazard does not necessarily mean there is a risk. Heavy metals can be present but at such a low level that it doesn’t cause harm.
Avoiding all heavy metals is impossible but is important to be:
1) aware of your consumption
2) make choices to minimize your toxic load
3) hydrate with filtered water and sweat daily to help aid your body's natural detox
As a result, California's Prop 65 created a limit per serving to ensure safe levels of heavy metals.
The Cassava I use is 3rd party tested for heavy metals, California Prop 65 compliant, and European Commission compliant at under 20PPB for children. I have tested over 10 different suppliers from around the world and found 1 that passes the strictest US and European standards.
The reason is the quality of the soil. My cassava comes from small family farms with pure soil in South America. No industrial agriculture practices and clean soil produces more nutrient dense whole food nutrition.
As a founder and as a parent, I try my best to find and source the cleanest ingredients possible. It's important you have the information necessary to make informed decisions for you and your family.
Please find the full test results from our most recent production run. We test every production run to ensure our quality standards are being met. Please note that the lowest limit at the leading and accredited 3rd party laboratory I use for testing heavy metals is <10PB for all except Mercury at <4PPB far below the standard of CA Prop 65 at 50PPB and the European Commission standard at 20PPB.
Hopefully this is helpful. As a parent on low tox journey, I know how anxiety-filled it can be. It is impossible to avoid 100% of toxins but it’s helpful to be informed to help manage your overall toxic load. There are certain products I avoid because of high test results and there are some important steps to help reducing your toxic load from fresh produce too.
1) Buy organic: use the EWG clean 15 and dirty dozen to limit exposure and save some money
2) Wash your produce: toss with 1 teaspoon of baking soda plus some salt per 2 cups of cold water then soak for 10 minutes followed by a rinse
3) Don't stress: you can't avoid all toxins so do your best while hydrating with water, getting sunlight and sweating everyday to support your body's natural detox
