At Garden of Life, we adhere to the same set of high standards that have made our company No.1 and the most-trusted name in the Natural Products Industry. We start with clinically studied ingredients and utilize cutting-edge technology. Our Quality Assurance and Control department is always testing our products for potency, safety and contaminants. Each product is researched and developed to be the safest and most effective.

What is “Prop 65”? The term, “Prop 65” makes reference to a law specific to the State of California, known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, or Proposition 65. This California law contains a list of over 900 chemicals known to pose various risks to human health, including lead. If anything sold in California has been exposed to any chemical on this list, that product must include a warning label. In the case of lead, Prop 65 limits are 0.5 mcg per serving, unless higher amounts are established as naturally occurring.

To help put this in context, fruits, vegetables, grains, animal proteins and even drinking water, all naturally contain some levels of the lead higher than 0.5 mcg. In fact, many healthy choices like turnips, apples, artichokes, carrots, cucumbers, green beans, spinach, brown rice, almonds and other nuts contain measurable amounts considerably higher than the artificial limits established in Prop 65. Why? Plants absorb metals and other trace chemicals from the soil in which they’re grown. Detectable levels does not mean that the plant was grown in dirty, polluted soil. Whether the soil is certified organic or conventional, and regardless of whether the plant is organic or genetically modified, lead is naturally found in most fruits and vegetables at levels that commonly exceed the Prop 65 limit of 0.5 mcg. In fact, the state of California’s own studies of soil, from 70 different locations, established that most vegetables averaged four times the Prop 65 lead limits. However, you won’t see Prop 65 warning labels on these foods because the levels have been established as naturally occurring and the food producers are not required to provide Prop 65 warnings.

If you reside in the State of California, or if you are simply concerned with California Prop 65, we want you to know that we take Prop 65 reporting very seriously as we only exist to Empower Extraordinary Health®. All of our products are tested regularly to ensure compliance with Prop 65.

• World Health Organization (WHO)
• The European Union (EU)
• The Canadian Natural and Non-Prescription Health Products Directorate (NNHPD)
  
• The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—tolerable daily intake
  
• The United States Pharmacopeia (USP)
  
• The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—drinking water standards
  
• The State of California (Proposition 65)—naturally occurring exemption

We want to assure all residents of the State of California that all of our products are tested regularly to ensure compliance with Prop 65. Even more, we are constantly looking for ways to further reduce any naturally occurring lead and cadmium content in our products. This includes seeking alternative ingredient sourcing options with lower lead and cadmium content, reviewing the manufacturing process, reformulating our products and using processes or methods to extract metals from product ingredients.
We also want you to know that under a 2015 court-approved settlement with the well-known social and environmental activity group, As You Sow, we agreed to the threshold limits of 4 mcg of Pb (lead) and 4.1 mcg of Cd (cadmium) for each measure of Garden of Life protein and greens products with 20g of protein per serving and 3 mcg Pb for products with under 20 g of protein. We are confident that all of our products are well below these levels.
You can find a representative sample of the results of testing for heavy metals on our website by clicking here.

Interested In heavy metal test reports?

Testing methods, as we discuss below, evolve as technology improves. Our team of quality experts work closely with our manufacturers, third-party auditors and other industry experts to identify the best laboratories and most accurate testing methods to use for each product. Some of the test methods we routinely use include:

Some of the test methods we routinely use include:
1.  Gas chromatography with detection by FID (flame ionization detector), ECD (electron capture detector) and MS (mass spectroscopy) or MS/MS (tandem mass spectroscopy)
2.  HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) in conjunction with a variety of detection methods including IR (infra-red), photodiode array, ELSD (evaporative light scatter detector), MS (mass spectroscopy), and MS/MS (tandem mass spectroscopy)
3.  HP-TLC (high performance thin-layer chromatography)
4.  ICP/MS (inductively coupled plasma/mass spectroscopy) Microscopy
5.  MS (mass spectroscopy)

• are safely manufactured by cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) third-party audited facilities.
• are tested to be safe, conforming to the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Practices and food standards in regulated labs. (These are testing methods that apply to whole food supplements—food for ingredients versus synthetic supplements.)
  
• have a full-time Quality Control Department dedicated to ensuring all appropriate quality practices are met.
  
• are tested by the leading third-party independent testing agency.
  
• are up to standards, such as those requiring Certified USDA Organic products that are safe from toxic pesticides and fertilizers.
  
• are meeting standards of the Non-GMO Project and are Non-GMO Project Verified—safe from genetically modified ingredients.

Additionally, our proteins are Trusted for Sport by Informed-Choice—safe for competitive use and free of banned substances. 

Furthermore, we launched “first and only” whole food multivitamins in 2014—mykind Organics—which are fingerprint analyzed for each of the botanical ingredients in the proprietary blend.

At Garden of Life, we deliver whole food premium nutrition! This is our life, our business and our area of expertise. We hope that, after reading this, you will have a better understanding of the great lengths we go to in ensuring that our products are the most extraordinary on the market.

We appreciate your continued support. Should you need any additional information, please contact our Product Support department at 866-465-0051.