Clean Label Project (CLP) Certification
Using sales data from sources such as Nielsen, SPINS, Amazon, and others, we identify the top-selling products—typically representing 80–95% of category sales—for testing.
There are a multitude of contaminants that are examined dependent upon the product category. The standard battery of contaminants evaluated is bisphenols (A and S), glyphosate, heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury), pesticides (> 300 residues), and phthalates (BBP, DBP, DEHP, and DHP). An evaluation of acrylamide is also performed for products that undergo a heat process in their manufacturing.
Clean Label Project (CLP) partners with an independent third-party laboratory, Ellipse Analytics (EA). EA is ISO 17025* accredited by ANAB. EA’s scope of accreditation covers the testing methods and specific product categories in the CLP certification standards.
*ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation is a third-party verification and attestation that the accredited body (in this case, EA for its laboratory) has demonstrated its competence, capability, and impartiality when facilitating its testing under validated and controlled processes, procedures, and methods.
For nearly a decade, the lab CLP uses for testing and evaluation, has been independently validated by other accredited third-party laboratories, universities, government agencies, and media organizations. In several cases our work has been peer-reviewed in the past.
Our work has led to the recall of infant formula by the state of California and the FDA’s largest recall of pet food in history.
In addition, peer review often takes years to complete. When we uncover contaminants at a level that may affect the health of people or animals, we believe we have an ethical duty to disclose that information without delay.
Clean Label Project Certified products are evaluated by Ellipse Analytics using Agilent and Sciex instrumentation via rigorously validated testing methods.
The Clean Label Project provides category benchmark data and/or regulatory standards to help consumers interpret the raw data and see how it compares to the broader market.
Many laboratories specialize in testing only one or two types of products—such as water, soil, produce, or dietary supplements. By analyzing the same materials every day, they develop deep expertise in those specific areas. However, if they use the same methods to test a different type of product, the results may not always be accurate.
All test results are first analyzed by a chemist and subsequently verified by another chemist. Results that fail to meet the thresholds established in our standards undergo additional verification, including a review of prior test results, an assessment of other failures within the same batch that may have influenced the outcome, and any other relevant factors. Results may be retested to confirm their accuracy, possibly at multiple ISO accredited third-party labs.
Our objective is to deliver a comprehensive evaluation of a product category to encourage improvement across the industry, along with a summarized list highlighting the products with the lowest overall contaminant levels. Additionally, our research relies on proprietary data from Ellipse Analytics, which conducts the testing for our certifications and provides the aggregated data used in our category reviews and Clean 16 lists.
As part of our category research, the Clean Label Project publishes the Clean 16 — a list recognizing products with the lowest overall levels of contaminants.
Not necessarily. It may not have been part of that specific category review (i.e. did not fall into the top 80-95% of the category on the sales data we used to choose the products we tested), or it may have fallen outside the top 16 while still meeting our contaminant thresholds. These products may still qualify for, or may already hold, individual certification.
Not necessarily. The Clean 16 are the products that we tested in a category study that showed the lowest overall levels of contaminants.
Products are tested, evaluated, and certified individually.
We obtain products the same way a typical consumer would—by purchasing them directly from retail stores or reputable online sellers. This approach helps ensure the samples reflect what is actually available to the public.
Clean Label Project (CLP) offers multiple certifications tailored to specific contaminants, each grounded in the most stringent industrial and environmental standards. Our certification criteria are informed by a combination of California’s Proposition 65, European Union regulations, U.S. federal and state requirements, and our proprietary category-specific data.
Yes, Clean Label Project certification takes into account both serving size and daily exposure to industrial and environmental contaminants.
Products like infant formula, baby food, and pet food are held to stricter standards than something like an adult snack bar. That’s because babies, infants, and pets get most of their calories from these foods, so their potential exposure to contaminants is much higher relative to their size and diet.
Using sugar as an example, a family-size bag of cookies could contain 630 grams of sugar in total — far above the recommended daily intake. However, the stated serving size might be three cookies, which contain about 14 grams of sugar — an amount below the recommended daily limit.
While the objective is to reduce contaminants as much as possible, excluding serving size from the overall analysis can misrepresent actual exposure and potentially cause disproportionate concern.
The difference between parts per million (ppm) and parts per billion (ppb) is exponential: 1 ppm equals 1,000 ppb. These units show how much of a substance is present relative to the total amount—ppm measures larger amounts, while ppb measures much smaller, more diluted quantities.
Think of it as the difference between a drop of food coloring in a backyard swimming pool versus a large lake. The drop is the same, but in the lake it is much more diluted. The drop in the swimming pool represents parts per million (ppm), while the drop in the lake represents parts per billion (ppb). When it comes to the impact on human health, that difference is monumental!
This distinction is important because some blogs, articles, or third parties report results based solely on the Limit of Detection (LoD) rather than the Limit of Quantification (LoQ), which reflects accurate measurement. Reporting values below the LoQ can make the results seem more precise and reliable than they actually are, potentially leading to confusion or misinterpretation of the data.
Ellipse analytics LOQ’s are typically in the low teens to single digit parts per billion (ppb).
While contaminants like pesticides, phthalates, and bisphenols can potentially be eliminated entirely, heavy metals naturally occur in the Earth’s crust, making trace amounts unavoidable. The goal is to minimize all contaminants as much as possible, striving to bring them as close to zero as feasible.
Clean Label Project is supported through a mix of donations, grants, and certification fees from brands that display the CLP mark on products that have been independently tested and verified to meet our standards.
Certified organic products generally have lower levels of pesticides (but more than none) but higher levels of heavy metals like lead, arsenic, etc. Non-GMO products generally do not have any statistical correlation with higher levels of purity. Finally, the retail price of a product across all categories we have tested are not correlated with higher levels of purity as well.
You can read all of our category reports at https://cleanlabelproject.org/category-testing/
You can view all of our Clean 16 lists at https://cleanlabelproject.org/clean-label-project-clean-16/
You can search our database of products at https://cleanlabelproject.org/the-certified-products/ and you can download our Clean Label Project app here:
(Android coming soon!)
Harmful germs—also called pathogens—can contaminate food and make people sick. They can come from bacteria, parasites, viruses, etc. Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, botulism, and norovirus are just some examples of pathogens commonly associated with outbreaks and serious illness.
In the United States, the FDA and USDA-FSIS regulate pathogen-related food safety. Food manufacturers also rely on independent labs, audits, certification bodies, and consultants. Together, these agencies help protect public health by ensuring steps are taken to prevent outbreaks caused by harmful germs.
But pathogens aren’t the only concern. Food can contain harmful levels of heavy metals, pesticides, phthalates, and other chemicals that are not always regulated or routinely tested. The Clean Label Project (CLP) addresses this gap by evaluating products for these additional contaminants.
To earn and maintain CLP certification, a product must meet—or exceed—FDA pathogen food safety standards and remain in good standing. If a CLP-certified product is recalled in the event of a pathogen outbreak, its certification is suspended and the product is removed from our website.
At this time we are unable to test individual products for consumers.