At Matchaful, we take our mission very seriously: we want to deliver the cleanest, highest quality teas possible, from the farm to your whisk. Our farmer orders exhaustive third-party testing for radiation, heavy metals, and over 700 pesticides and herbicides to ensure it meets Matchaful standards.
To be extra sure that our matcha is as clean as possible, we sent our matcha through another round of independent, accredited lab testing. For transparency, we’re sharing our second round of independent test results with you here. If you’re a bit bewildered by the numbers, don’t worry - we broke down the results line by line so you can sip soundly.
Heavy Metals
It is almost impossible to completely remove heavy metals from soil: lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury are present in the earth’s crust and enter our soil through erosion. However, using regenerative, sustainable farming practices, we can enrich the soil with more organic matter and dilute the soil’s heavy metal content, further reducing the amount that enters our food cycle.
Our third-party lab testing showed that our matcha and houjicha contain extremely low levels of heavy metals, which is a direct result of our farming partner’s commitment to sustainable farming practices.
As a benchmark for safety, we compared our lab results to the California Prop 65 guidelines, which set strict exposure limits for heavy metals in food and beverages and require a warning label on foods that don’t meet these standards. We found our matcha and houjicha to be well below the daily limits for each heavy metal tested.
Here’s how 4g of matcha and houjicha (our recommended serving size for a latte) measures up to California Prop 65 guidelines:
| Prop 65 Acceptable Daily Limit | Matchaful's Hikari (per 4g) | Matchaful's Kiwami (per 4g) | Matchaful's Houjicha (per 4g) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenic | 10 µg/day | <0.04 µg | 0.072 µg | 0.052 µg | |
| Cadmium | 4.1 µg/day | 0.040 µg | 0.068 µg | 0.048 µg | |
| Lead* | 0.5 µg/day | 15 µg/day | 0.304 µg | 0.272 µg | 0.18 µg |
*Prop 65 specifies two thresholds for lead exposure: MADL (0.5 µg/day) and NSRL (15 µg/day). All of Matchaful’s teas tested below these thresholds. For more information about what these thresholds mean, visit the official California OEHHA website.
Because there’s no specific guidance from Prop 65 or the FDA regarding safe levels of mercury in food, we used the European Union guidelines set forth by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Intake limits for organic mercury are determined by body weight. Here’s how our matcha compares to the EU’s mercury guidelines for an adult weighing 150 pounds:
| EFSA Weekly Limit * | Matchaful's Hikari (per 4g) | Matchaful's Kiwami (per 4g) | Matchaful's Houjicha (per 4g) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | 88 µg | <0.04 µg | <0.04 µg | <0.04 µg |
*Based on a body weight of 150 lbs (68.04kg). Intake limits for organic mercury (found in water and soil) are set at 1.3 µg per kilogram of body weight.
When tested, the samples we sent to our lab contained negligible levels of mercury. Even for everyday matcha drinkers, EFSA guidelines state that these levels of mercury should pose no observable health risk.
Pesticides
Our farming partners are committed to fully pesticide-free, organic tea. Pesticides were not detected in any sample - we feel strongly that having a clean, sustainably grown product is a priority for our customers.
We’re always striving to source the cleanest possible teas. We take pride in our farming partners’ commitment to regenerative farming practices without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Leveraging sustainable farming practices, we can keep our soil healthy and safe, and your matcha will become that much cleaner.
You can find our full 2026 Lab Reports here:
