Is Little Spoon Clean Label Certified? The Definitive Answer

December 11, 2025 •

3 min read

According to Little Spoon, their Babyblends product line received Clean Label Project certification in February 2022, signifying that the products are tested for contaminants including heavy metals and pesticides. This certification confirms Little Spoon's adherence to a higher standard of food purity and transparency for their products.

Quick Summary

Little Spoon holds Clean Label Project certification for many of its products, indicating rigorous third-party testing for hundreds of contaminants. The brand emphasizes transparency and voluntarily follows strict standards, including limits on heavy metals that align with or exceed EU benchmarks.

Key Points

Clean Label Certified: Little Spoon's Babyblends and other baby products have been Clean Label Project certified since February 2022.
Contaminant Testing: The certification involves rigorous third-party testing for over 500 contaminants, including heavy metals, pesticides, and plasticizers.
EU-Inspired Standards: Little Spoon voluntarily adheres to safety standards for heavy metals that align with or exceed the stricter benchmarks set by the European Union.
Dual Certification: In addition to Clean Label, Little Spoon also holds USDA Organic certification, combining pure ingredient sourcing with final product contaminant testing.
Rice-Free and HPP: The brand avoids rice in its cereals to mitigate arsenic risk and uses cold-pressure processing (HPP) to ensure freshness without high-heat pasteurization.
Transparency First: Little Spoon emphasizes transparency by publicly sharing its testing standards and voluntarily disclosing its results, building significant consumer trust.
Award-Winning Purity: Many Little Spoon Babyblends have also been awarded the Clean Label Project Purity Award, recognizing their achievement of the lowest levels of contaminants.

Little Spoon's Commitment to Clean Label Certification

Yes, Little Spoon is Clean Label Project certified, with the company officially announcing the certification for its Babyblends in February 2022. This certification is part of Little Spoon's broader commitment to food safety and transparency, particularly in response to growing consumer concerns about contaminants in baby food, such as heavy metals. The certification is awarded by the Clean Label Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to consumer product labeling.

What Does 'Clean Label Certified' Mean for Little Spoon?

For Little Spoon, achieving Clean Label Project certification involves submitting their products, such as the Babyblends, for independent, third-party testing. The certification goes beyond the basic nutritional information, focusing on the product's purity and testing for hundreds of potential contaminants.

Contaminant Testing: Little Spoon's certified products are tested for over 500 contaminants, including heavy metals like lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury, as well as pesticides and plasticizers such as BPA and BPS.
Ingredient Transparency: The certification process validates Little Spoon's use of simple, recognizable ingredients. The company avoids artificial flavors, preservatives, synthetic colors, and over 100 other common additives on their 'No-No List'.
Ingredient Sourcing: Certification helps verify that ingredients are sourced from trusted, certified organic farming partners, which aids in mitigating contamination risk from the start.

Little Spoon's Elevated Safety Standards

Little Spoon's commitment extends beyond the Clean Label Project certification. The company has voluntarily adopted safety standards that often exceed U.S. regulatory requirements. Little Spoon models its internal testing protocols after the stricter benchmarks of the European Union (EU).

Heavy Metal Limits:

Lead: Little Spoon sets its limit at ≤10 ppb, aligning with or surpassing current FDA guidance.
Arsenic: The limit is ≤20 ppb (≤40 ppb for cereal), exceeding U.S. regulations.
Cadmium: The limit is ≤40 ppb.
Mercury: Little Spoon sets its own standard at ≤3 ppb, though the EU does not have a specific limit.

Rice-Free Cereals: To mitigate the risk of inorganic arsenic exposure, a known concern with rice-based baby products, Little Spoon has developed rice-free baby cereals using organic ancient grains like oats, barley, and millet.

Cold-Pressure Processing (HPP): Unlike many shelf-stable baby food products that use high-heat pasteurization, Little Spoon uses High-Pressure Processing (HPP). This cold-water technique eliminates harmful bacteria while preserving the food's nutrients, texture, and flavor without preservatives.

Clean Label vs. USDA Organic: What's the Difference?


Feature	Clean Label Project Certification	USDA Organic Certification
Primary Focus	Tests for the presence of contaminants, like heavy metals, pesticides, and plasticizers, in the final product.	Focuses on farming and processing methods; prohibits synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, and GMOs.
Testing Method	Independent, third-party blind testing of finished, retail-purchased products for purity.	Certification is based on agricultural practices and ingredient sourcing, with spot checks and inspections.
Contaminants	Sets strict limits on contaminants that can naturally occur or be introduced during processing, even in organic produce.	Does not specifically test finished products for trace levels of contaminants or heavy metals.
Goal	Provides consumers with greater transparency about product purity and potential hidden risks.	Guarantees that at least 95% of ingredients were produced without synthetic methods.
Little Spoon's Stance	Actively partners with the Clean Label Project and has been certified, with many products receiving purity awards.	Also holds this certification, ensuring ingredients are sourced according to these standards.

The Importance of Dually Certified Products

By obtaining both USDA Organic and Clean Label Project certifications, Little Spoon provides parents with a higher level of assurance regarding their baby's food. The organic certification confirms the integrity of the farming methods, while the Clean Label Project verification tests the final product for potential environmental and processing contaminants. This dual approach addresses both the 'how it's made' and 'what's in it' questions, fostering greater trust and transparency.

Conclusion

Little Spoon is indeed Clean Label Project certified for its Babyblends and other baby and toddler products, including cereals and puffs. This certification, coupled with their internal standards that are inspired by strict EU guidelines and their voluntary testing for over 500 contaminants, demonstrates a strong commitment to purity and safety. By holding both Clean Label and USDA Organic certifications, Little Spoon provides a comprehensive and transparent view of their products, offering parents peace of mind that goes beyond standard industry requirements. The brand's proactive approach to addressing concerns like heavy metals and contaminants sets a high bar for the baby food industry, and their ongoing testing and public reporting underscore their dedication to quality.

Frequently Asked Questions

Little Spoon's Babyblends, Baby Cereal, and Puffs are confirmed to be Clean Label Project certified, with many of the Babyblends also winning the Clean Label Project Purity Award.

The Clean Label Project certification is a third-party verification that tests consumer products for hundreds of environmental and industrial contaminants, including heavy metals, pesticides, and plasticizers, to ensure product purity and transparency.

Little Spoon submits its finished products for rigorous, blind third-party testing conducted by ISO-accredited analytical chemistry laboratories. The results are then compared to category benchmarks.

No certification, including Clean Label, can guarantee the complete absence of heavy metals, as some can occur naturally in soil. The certification verifies that products meet or fall below established strict limits for contaminants.

Yes, every batch of Little Spoon's Babyblends is tested by a third-party lab for heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury, with the results required to meet their rigorous internal standards.

Little Spoon's self-imposed limits for heavy metals are inspired by stricter European Union (EU) benchmarks and are often lower than current US regulations or guidelines, which the company adopted ahead of future FDA changes.

Little Spoon highlights both certifications because they address different aspects of food safety. USDA Organic focuses on farming methods, while Clean Label tests the final product for a wide range of contaminants, providing a higher level of assurance.