Little Spoon Kale Apple Meltable Baby Curls, 1 oz bag

1. Ingredients 30% of the rating 5 of 5

   Six organic ingredients, no rice, no added sugar, nothing artificial, and the maker lists each one.

2. Independent testing 35% of the rating 4 of 5

   Consumer Reports’ 2026 test found no arsenic, 4.12 ppb lead, 5.79 ppb cadmium and no PFAS, but also four phthalates (DEHT 764 ppb); Little Spoon’s own lot results are by lot code and we did not look one up.

3. Trust 25% of the rating 3 of 5

   No FDA recall found, but a July 2026 Prop 65 lead notice on another Little Spoon snack, a CR letter and middling disclosure score over its lot-code lookup, and a young brand; it did answer Consumer Reports.

4. Value 10% of the rating 2 of 5

   About $4 to $5 an ounce, a premium over most baby snacks.

The rating, 3.9 of 5, is the weighted average of these scores. See how we rank baby & kids nutrition and our standard.

• Amazon (opens in a new tab) approx. $20 for 4 bags ($19.96, about $4.99 a bag; $17.96 with Subscribe & Save). Sold by Little Spoon, Inc., the brand’s own storefront, and shipped by Amazon; the listing was live on 2026-11-03 with a Subscribe & Save price of $17.96.
• Target (opens in a new tab) approx. $5 ($4.99 for a 1 oz bag). Listed as “Little Spoon Organic Kale Apple Curl Baby Puffs”, in stock on target.com on 2026-11-03 with no marketplace seller shown. Little Spoon also lists H-E-B, Wegmans and Harris Teeter as stockists.

Prices as we saw them on November 3, 2026. They change often. These links carry no tracking code and earn us nothing.

1. Puff (organic yellow corn meal, organic sprouted white quinoa flour, organic sorghum flour)
2. Organic avocado oil
3. Organic apple powder
4. Organic kale powder

• Independent Consumer Reports (nonprofit; tested 48 baby foods from 11 brands) September 2026

  Little Spoon Organic Meltable Baby Puffs, Kale Apple Curls, 7 g serving: total and inorganic arsenic not detected, cadmium 5.79 ppb, lead 4.12 ppb, mercury not detected; BPA not detected; phthalates DiBP 22 ppb, DEHA 26 ppb, DEHP 50 ppb and DEHT 764 ppb (DMP and DBP not detected); PFAS not detected (below 7.5 ppb). Rated 5 of 5 on all six measures, with no serving limit. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

• Independent Consumer Reports, article on the 2026 tests September 2026

  Snacks such as puffs, melties, biscuits, rice rusks and bars had higher inorganic arsenic, cadmium and lead than purées; 96 percent of all 48 foods were below its level of concern for heavy metals. For Little Spoon it found no heavy metals above that level and detectable phthalates in the puffs; a Little Spoon spokesperson replied. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

• Independent Consumer Reports and Unleaded Kids, review of 39 brands’ posted test results August 2025

  Placed Little Spoon in the middle group: it posts results, but a shopper must type in a lot code to see them. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

• Maker’s own test Little Spoon, own testing hub (third-party lab; paid by the maker)

  Says a third-party lab tests heavy metals in every batch of its baby products, and pesticides, glyphosate and plasticizers (specifically BPA and BPS) regularly, against its own limits (lead 10 ppb, arsenic 20 ppb, 40 ppb for cereal, cadmium 40 ppb, mercury 3 ppb), with results shown by the five digits after the hyphen on the puffs bag. The hub does not name the lab; Light Labs, an ISO 17025-accredited testing company that sells to brands, says on its home page that Little Spoon partners with it. We did not look up a lot. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Do puffs carry more heavy metals than purées?

Usually, yes. Consumer Reports (opens in a new tab) says higher inorganic arsenic, cadmium and lead showed up in snacks such as puffs, melties, biscuits, rice rusks and bars than in purées, probably because they are grain-based. This snack came out well: inorganic arsenic not detected, lead 4.12 ppb and cadmium 5.79 ppb. See our guide to heavy metals in baby food.

Is rice the problem, and is this rice-free?

Rice takes up more arsenic than most grains. The ingredients here are corn, quinoa and sorghum, with no rice, and Consumer Reports found no arsenic in it. Our rice safety guide covers rice-based foods.

Does it contain phthalates?

Yes, small amounts. Consumer Reports found four in this snack: DiBP at 22 ppb, DEHA at 26 ppb, DEHP at 50 ppb and DEHT at 764 ppb, and none for DMP or DBP. It scored phthalates 5 of 5 against its level of concern and found at least one phthalate in 39 of 48 baby foods. Little Spoon’s hub says its plasticizer testing covers BPA and BPS, not phthalates. See our phthalates article.

Has Little Spoon been recalled or named in a notice?

openFDA (opens in a new tab) food enforcement has no match for Little Spoon. The California Attorney General (opens in a new tab) lists one 60-day notice naming the company, 2026-03611 (opens in a new tab), filed 27 July 2026 by an individual plaintiff and alleging lead in Little Spoon Banana, Strawberry, Butternut and Squash freeze-dried fruit snacks sold at Target; the search also returns unrelated companies with “Little” or “Spoon” in their names. It is an allegation and does not name this product. In 2020 the BBB’s National Advertising Division (opens in a new tab) referred Little Spoon’s “fresh” baby food advertising to the FTC and FDA after the company declined to drop some claims; that dispute, brought by Plum Organics, was about its refrigerated purées, not this snack. Searched 2 and 3 Nov 2026.

Is the “Always Tested” seal independent?

It is Little Spoon’s own program. The maker says a third-party lab runs the tests and that its limits match FDA’s strictest lead level and the EU’s arsenic and cadmium limits, and add a mercury limit, but the brand hires the lab (Light Labs, a testing company that sells to brands, lists Little Spoon as a partner). Consumer Reports’ test of this snack is the independent check.

Can I see the lot results without a lot code?

No. Little Spoon’s hub asks for a lot code; for puffs, the five digits after the hyphen on the bag. In March 2025 Consumer Reports wrote to the CEO urging the company to drop that requirement, saying it is not consumer-friendly and may be inconsistent with California’s disclosure law (CR letter (opens in a new tab)), and CR and Unleaded Kids placed Little Spoon in the middle group in August 2025. We found no published reply.

• The whole label is six organic items: yellow corn meal, sprouted white quinoa flour, sorghum flour, avocado oil, apple powder and kale powder. It has no rice, no added sugar and no flavors, colors or sweeteners listed.
• Consumer Reports tested this exact snack in 2026 and rated it 5 of 5 for inorganic arsenic, cadmium, lead, BPA, phthalates and PFAS, with no serving limit. Arsenic was not detected, cadmium was 5.79 ppb and lead 4.12 ppb. CR found snacks such as puffs, melties and rusks carry more metals than purées, so this is a better-than-usual result for the kind of food.
• Little Spoon publishes results by lot code and sets its own limits (lead 10 ppb, arsenic 20 ppb, cadmium 40 ppb, mercury 3 ppb). It matches FDA’s strictest lead level and the EU’s arsenic and cadmium limits, and adds a mercury limit the EU does not have. It says heavy metals are tested in every batch of its baby products, by a third-party lab.
• No rice means none of the arsenic that rice-based puffs and rusks carry. In the same CR tests, rice-based teething wafers and rusks from Baby Mum-Mum and Walmart’s Parent’s Choice had 51 to 57 ppb inorganic arsenic, and three other puffs had 12 to 20 ppb.

• It costs about $4 to $5 an ounce, several times the price of a purée per ounce. It is sold on Little Spoon’s own site, on Amazon (by Little Spoon) and at Target, and Little Spoon also lists H-E-B, Wegmans and Harris Teeter.
• Consumer Reports found phthalates in this snack: DiBP at 22 ppb, DEHA at 26 ppb, DEHP at 50 ppb (0.35 mcg a serving) and DEHT at 764 ppb. It rated phthalates 5 of 5 against its level of concern but says regulatory limits lag newer research, and that 19 of the 48 foods had DEHP above the amount recent research links to harm (we do not know whether this snack is one of them). Phthalates can enter food from packaging and production equipment.
• Little Spoon’s clean lot results are its own, from a lab it pays (Light Labs, which sells testing to brands, says Little Spoon is a partner). In March 2025 Consumer Reports wrote to Little Spoon’s CEO urging it to drop the lot-code requirement for seeing results, and CR and Unleaded Kids placed it in the middle of the pack in August 2025; the hub still asks for a lot code. We did not look up a lot.
• A July 2026 Prop 65 notice (2026-03611) names Little Spoon and Target for lead in a different Little Spoon snack, freeze-dried fruit. It is an allegation by a private plaintiff and does not name this product.
• Corn meal is the first ingredient, and the maker calls the puffs rice-free, seed-free and top-9-allergen-free. Puffs are a snack, not a meal.

1. Little Spoon: Kale Apple Meltable Baby Curls page. Maker’s page. Ingredients, “starting at $3.99 per multi-serve bag”, six organic ingredients, no allergens listed; read 3 Nov 2026. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
2. Little Spoon testing hub. Maker’s page. Own limits, 500+ contaminants, the plasticizer scope (BPA and BPS) and the lot-code lookup. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
3. Little Spoon: find Little Spoon near me. Maker’s page. Says it is sold at Target, H-E-B, Wegmans and Harris Teeter. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
4. Consumer Reports: baby food test results, September 2026 (PDF). Test report. Per-product numbers for 48 foods. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
5. Consumer Reports: We Tested 48 Baby Foods for Heavy Metals and Microplastics. Test report. Published 17 September 2026; per-product ratings and serving limits. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
6. Consumer Reports and Unleaded Kids: rating of baby food brands on reporting toxic elements (August 2025). Test report. Little Spoon in the middle group. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
7. Consumer Reports: letter to Little Spoon on heavy-metal disclosures (13 March 2025, PDF). Test report. Urges Little Spoon to drop the lot-code requirement for seeing test results. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
8. Light Labs home page. Independent source. ISO 17025-accredited testing company; says Little Spoon partners with it to cut turnaround times. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
9. BBB National Advertising Division: Little Spoon baby food claims (27 May 2020). Independent source. Referral to the FTC and FDA over “fresh” claims after Plum Organics’ challenge. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
10. Amazon: Little Spoon Kale Apple Meltable Baby Puffs, 1 oz bag, 4 pack. Independent source. Sold by Little Spoon, Inc., ships from Amazon; $19.96 one time (first check), $17.96 with Subscribe & Save on 3 Nov 2026. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
11. Target: Little Spoon Organic Kale Apple Curl Baby Puffs, 1 oz. Independent source. $4.99, in stock, ingredient list matches; read 3 Nov 2026. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
12. openFDA food enforcement reports, product “Little Spoon”. Certifier or regulator listing. No matches on 2 and 3 Nov 2026. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
13. California Attorney General: Prop 65 60-day notice search, defendant “Little Spoon”. Certifier or regulator listing. Returns 78 notices matching “Little” or “Spoon”; the only one naming Little Spoon is 2026-03611. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
14. California Attorney General: Prop 65 notice 2026-03611. Certifier or regulator listing. Filed 27 July 2026 by Gabriel Espinoza: lead in Little Spoon freeze-dried fruit snacks; names Little Spoon and Target. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

• Earth’s Best Organic Apple + Sweet Potato Puree A four-ingredient purée at about 38 cents an ounce, also tested by Consumer Reports in 2026.

• Heavy Metals in Baby Food Article Traces of lead, arsenic and cadmium turn up in many baby foods. Here is what testing shows, what is unproven, and practical ways to lower your baby's exposure.
• Rice Safety: Arsenic Levels and How to Reduce Your Exposure Article Why rice accumulates more arsenic than other grains, how much it varies by type and origin, and which cooking methods remove the most inorganic arsenic (54% to 73% with the best-tested one)
• Phthalates: Hidden Hormone Disruptors Article What phthalates are, how they disrupt hormones and reproductive health, and practical steps to reduce exposure