Purity Test Results: Better Day Bars – Apple Mango Chia
***THIS PAGE IS UNDER RECONSTRUCTION***
We are redesigning our purity verification program in March 2024, including the website and mobile pages, to make the information easier for you to access and assess. Unfortunately when we reorganized our files internally, we inadvertently broke all our lab test links on our existing Purity Test pages.
If you would like to access our test results before we launch our new pages, please reach out to us at customerservice@zegofoods.com, and we’ll be happy to send them to you. Include your product name and “Best By” date printed on the back of the package. We appreciate your understanding.
To see the relevant purity test results for this product,
scroll down or navigate using these buttons below.
Allergy & Gluten
For your convenience, we summarized the test results for all our fruit bars below because all the tests had the same result. You may access the test results here.
GLUTEN – NOT DETECTED
EGG – NOT DETECTED
ALMOND – NOT DETECTED
PEANUT – NOT DETECTED
MILK – NOT DETECTED
Why do we test for allergens and gluten?
ZEGO bars are made in a facility that does not process gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, fish/shellfish, or sesame. Products containing powdered milk and soy are run on the same equipment but never on the same week. Our facility carefully cleans the equipment and tests it for allergen residue. All tests must be negative for the equipment before being cleared to be used for our products.
We take allergen safety very seriously and know that, despite all these precautions, cross contact can still happen. That is why we test every batch for cross-contact at the end of the production and post the results for you to see through the QR code on every ZEGO package. We are the ONLY company providing this extra level of information and transparency for consumers. We hope you email other allergy-friendly companies you buy from and ask them to start doing the same.
How does ZEGO decide what allergens to test for?
We test for peanut, gluten, soy, and milk because these are the most common allergens, and the tests are more reliable for our product. Ingredients and allergens do not have equal testing reliability. For example, sunflower seeds often cause false positives in almond tests. So we balance the need for safety with reliability and risk.
Explanation of Allergen Test Results
Our tests have a 95% confidence level at 1-2PPM for allergens and 5-10PPM for gluten. As indicated on the test results PDF, the tests are either performed by the Food Allergy Research and Resource Project (FARRP), based at the University of Nebraska or by the quality control team at the facility.
What are the lowest levels of PPM that are known to cause a reaction?
It varies depending on the allergen and on the person. The FDA has determined the lowest level at which a reaction has been seen in clinical trials to be the following.
- Tree nuts: between 0.02-7.5 mg protein.
- Dairy: between 0.36-3.6 mg protein.
- Sesame: between 0.25-10 mg protein.
Glyphosate
Valid for Best Buy Dates Through May 2025:
GLYPHOSATE – NONE DETECTED (<10PPM)
We source our fruit from the Pacific Northwest (except mango and strawberry) because the hard winters kill weeds and pests naturally. The amount of pesticide used is less than in warmer climates. Glyphosate is not typically an issue with fruit, but we test for it to see if it has drifted into the supply chain. We run a consolidated test for all our fruit bars at the same time because they the ingredients overlap significantly. Click here to view the lab report from the most recent production.
Please note, this is a new product for ZEGO and we are still in the market test phase. The Better Day bars are the same recipes as our Sunny Day bars with the addition of organic chia seeds. Thus, the test results for the Sunny Day and Better Day bars should be the same for glyphosate (i.e., none should be present). So to control costs, we are using our Sunny Day glyphosate tests as a proxy for our Better Day bars until we are in full production.
The lowest measurable amount for glyphosate is 0.01PPM. Any measurements below that level are not considered reliable. All tests are performed by AGQ Labs & Technological Services.
Why does ZEGO test for glyphosate?
We believe our customers have a right to know what is in their food, even if we are not required to list in on the label, and even if the chemical has not been proven to cause health problems yet. Though we cannot test for every chemical used in agriculture, glyphosate is the most common herbicide and testing for it can serve as a proxy for ensuring the ingredients we purchase truly are organic and/or non-GMO. We believe all companies should be testing periodically for glyphosate and try to minimize it in their products.
What are the lowest levels of PPM that could result in negative health consequences?
Glyphosate risk is different from allergen risk. A person with a tree nut allergy could have a severe and immediate reaction to 0.02mg of nut protein. Glyphosate exposure is not known to cause immediate reactions with individual exposure of small amounts. The glyphosate harm typically is seen with prolonged exposure.
Chemicals
We test for over 500 pesticides commonly used on agriculture and specifically on fruit. You can see the full report here.
Better Day Apple Mango flavor is made from the our fruit bar recipe with added organic chia seeds. In an effort to keep costs low as we introduce this new flavor, we are using the test results from our Sunny Day Bars as a proxy. About 25% of the Better Day Bars are organic chia seeds in addition to the fruit, so the test result seen in the report will overstate any residues found by that amount.
Because of cost and limited supply, our U.S. grown fruit in our bars is Non-GMO Verified but not organic, there will be small amounts of pesticide residue in the lab reports. We check to make sure the type of pesticide and the amount present are not of concern. To control costs, we frequently combine our fruit bar flavors and test them together. If we were to find a result that is of concern, we would retest each flavor separately.
Why does ZEGO test for 500+ Chemicals?
We believe our customers have a right to know what is in their food, even if we are not required to list it on the label, and even if the chemical has not been proven to cause health problems yet. Though we cannot test for every chemical used in agriculture, we are currently testing for the 500 most common chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides. Testing for these chemicals can serve as a proxy for ensuring the ingredients we purchase truly are organic and/or non-GMO. We believe all companies should be testing periodically for chemicals and try to minimize it in their products.
We will be conducting this test once per harvest and will update this page each time a new test is performed. We want you to have the power in deciding what foods to feed your family, which is why we are publishing the results.
Lab & Test Information
The lowest measurable amount we can test for is 0.01PPM. Amounts lower than that level cannot be detected. All tests are performed by AGQ Labs & Technological Services.
Questions?
Still have questions? Please feel free to email us at customerservice@zegofoods.com with any questions you have.
Heavy Metals
Our heavy metal testing program for our fruit bars will launch in fall 2023.