Community-directed testing

You pick what we test next.

In our category studies, brands do not provide us with samples. We purchase products directly off the shelf, just as a consumer would, and send them to an independent, ISO 17025-accredited laboratory for testing. Brands are not notified in advance and have no say in which products are purchased or tested. It’s the more expensive way to do it—but it provides a more authentic picture of what consumers are actually buying. Your gift helps make this independent testing possible.

$254
helps cover analyzing one product for lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury.
Clean Label Project Certification fee schedule, rev. March 2024.

Your pick

Which one should we test next?

Cast your vote!

  • Multivitamins — Daily gummies, tablets and capsules from the brands most shoppers buy.
    Screened for: Heavy metals, pesticides, BPA-type chemicals, phthalates
  • Pasta — Boxed pasta and what goes on it: marinara, Alfredo, pesto and olive oil.
    Screened for: Heavy metals, pesticides, mold toxins, BPA-type chemicals, phthalates
  • Baking Chocolate — Baking bars, chocolate chips and cocoa powder.
  • Face Serums — Your favorite serums, from the drugstore to the department store
    Screened for: Heavy metals, BPA-type chemicals, parabens, phthalates
  • Oats & Oatmeal — Rolled oats, steel-cut oats and instant oatmeal packets.
    Screened for: Heavy metals, pesticides, glyphosate (a weed killer), BPA-type chemicals, acrylamide
  • Toothpaste — The tube you reach for every morning and night.
    Screened for: Heavy metals, BPA-type chemicals, parabens, phthalates, leftover solvents
  • Kid Snacks — What’s in the most popular snacks are kids are eating?
    Screened for: Heavy metals, pesticides, BPA-type chemicals, phthalates

Where $150,000 goes when we test one category

Where your money goes

What it costs to analyze one product in a category study

Buying every product ourselves is our biggest cost. It's also why no brand gets to choose the sample. Each category gets the tests that fit it, so costs differ.

One full category study
$150,000

Which is exactly why we can only run a handful a year — and why we let you choose them.

Every product

Bought off the shelf
$35
Shipping, check-in and sample tracking
$15

Tests

Heavy metals: lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury
$254
Pesticides
$395
Bisphenols (BPA and similar plastic chemicals)
$385
Phthalates (chemicals that soften plastic)
$747
Parabens (preservatives)
$714
Mycotoxins (toxins from mold)
$405

Analysis of one product

Multivitamins
$1,831
Pasta
$2,236
Face Serums
$2,150
Oats & Oatmeal
$1,920
Toothpaste
$2,601
Kid Snacks
$1,831

Each study also includes $3,100 for scientific and legal review before the category report goes out.

Test prices: Clean Label Project Certification fee schedule, rev. March 2024. Purchase, shipping and review: CLP study budget.

That's why we can run only a few studies at a time, and why you get to choose them.

Where every study stands

Every study moves through the same stages. Nothing gets tested in secret, and nothing that gets funded goes unpublished — whatever the lab finds.

  1. Voting
  2. Funding
  3. In the lab
  4. Report live

Report live

Cat Cood

Funded and tested. See what the lab found across the category.

Funded in full — $147,000

Read the cat food report

Report live

Dog Food

Funded and tested. See what the lab found across the category.

Funded in full — $148,250

Read the dog food report

Funding now

Multivitamins

Daily gummies, tablets and capsules from the brands most shoppers buy.

Goal $165,224

Funding now

Pasta

Boxed pasta and what goes on it: marinara, Alfredo, pesto and olive oil.

Goal $165,874

Funding now

Baking Chocolate

Baking bars, chocolate chips and cocoa powder.

Goal $146,444

Funding now

Face Serums

Your favorite serums, from the drugstore to the department store

Goal $133,200

You choose what we test. You don't change what we find.

Bought off the shelf

We buy products the way you would, from stores and reputable online sellers.

Brands stay out of it

Brands are not notified before testing and have no involvement.

An independent lab

Testing is done by an independent, ISO 17025-accredited laboratory. That means outside auditors have checked its testing methods.

How we're funded

Clean Label Project is supported by donations, grants, and certification fees.

What a report covers

Each category report looks at the category as a whole, identifies areas of concern and sets meaningful benchmarks. Category studies are a snapshot in time; we do not test every batch of every product.

Or give every month.

Monthly gifts help pay for the next round of products and lab tests, so the next study can start sooner.