Goldfish Cheddar

One serving carries about 12 times California's Prop 65 no-significant-risk level for acrylamide (0.2 mcg per day), the threshold Consumer Reports applied at a serving a day. Acrylamide forms whenever starchy food is fried, baked or roasted. At 81 ppb it sat mid-pack among the nine chips and crackers CR tested (Lay's Classic 263 ppb, Doritos 53 ppb), and well under the EU's manufacturing benchmark for crackers (400 µg/kg).

Consumer Reports' August 2026 kids' snacks test (acrylamide by LC-MS/MS, J. Agric. Food Chem. 54:7001 (2006)) on three Goldfish Cheddar samples from two to three lots: 81 ppb, which is 2.43 mcg in the 30 g (55 pieces) serving. CR's reference values: OEHHA NSRL 0.2 mcg/day, MADL 140 mcg/day, EPA reference dose 2 mcg/kg body weight/day.

Glycidyl esters form when vegetable oils are refined at high heat and turn into glycidol in the gut — a probable human carcinogen with no safe intake set by EFSA. One serving is about 78% of California's no-significant-risk level for glycidol (0.54 mcg per day), the reference CR applied. At 14 ppb it was one of the lowest detected glycidyl ester levels in the test (Takis Fuego 122 ppb).

Consumer Reports' August 2026 kids' snacks test (glycidyl esters by GC-MS/MS, AOAC 2018.03) on three Goldfish Cheddar samples from two to three lots: 14 ppb, which is 0.42 mcg per 30 g serving. CR's reference value: OEHHA NSRL for glycidol 0.54 mcg/day. The EU caps GE in retail vegetable oils at 1,000 µg/kg as glycidol; the U.S. has no limit.

3-MCPD is a by-product of refining vegetable oil at high heat. EFSA's tolerable daily intake is 2 mcg per kg of body weight — about 46 mcg a day for a 23 kg child — so one serving is about 1% of that. Takis Fuego had the highest 3-MCPD of the chips and crackers CR tested (160 ppb).

Consumer Reports' August 2026 kids' snacks test (3-MCPD by GC-MS/MS, AOAC 2018.03) on three Goldfish Cheddar samples from two to three lots: 16 ppb, which is 0.47 mcg per 30 g serving. Reference: EFSA tolerable daily intake 2 mcg/kg body weight/day (2018).

Detected — one serving is about 18% of California's Prop 65 maximum allowable dose for lead (0.5 mcg per day). No level of lead is considered beneficial, and children are the most sensitive group.

Consumer Reports' August 2026 kids' snacks test (lead by ICP-QQQ-MS, AOAC 2015.01) on three Goldfish Cheddar samples from two to three lots: 3.06 ppb, which is 0.09 mcg per 30 g serving, against the OEHHA MADL of 0.5 mcg/day.

One serving is about 29% of California's Prop 65 maximum allowable dose for cadmium (4.1 mcg per day).

Consumer Reports' August 2026 kids' snacks test (cadmium by ICP-QQQ-MS, AOAC 2015.01) on three Goldfish Cheddar samples from two to three lots: 39.0 ppb, which is 1.17 mcg per 30 g serving, against the OEHHA MADL of 4.1 mcg/day.

CR ran its inorganic-arsenic follow-up only on the four products with the highest total arsenic, and this was not one of them. Even counted entirely as inorganic, one serving is about 1% of California's no-significant-risk level for inorganic arsenic (10 mcg per day).

Consumer Reports' August 2026 kids' snacks test (total arsenic by ICP-QQQ-MS, AOAC 2015.01) on three Goldfish Cheddar samples from two to three lots: 3.15 ppb, which is 0.1 mcg per 30 g serving; inorganic arsenic was tested only on the four products with the highest totals.

Not detected — below the laboratory's method detection limit in every sample.

Consumer Reports' August 2026 kids' snacks test (mercury by ICP-QQQ-MS, AOAC 2015.01) on three Goldfish Cheddar samples from two to three lots: not detected in any sample.

DEHP is a plasticiser that migrates from processing equipment and packaging. One serving is about 0.1% of California's Prop 65 maximum allowable dose for DEHP (410 mcg per day) and well under EPA's reference dose. Total phthalates were the same, so DEHP was the only one found.

Consumer Reports' August 2026 kids' snacks test (phthalates by GC-MS/MS, GB 5009.271-2016 mod.) on three Goldfish Cheddar samples from two to three lots: DEHP 10 ppb, which is 300 ng per 30 g serving; total phthalates 300 ng. References: OEHHA MADL 410 mcg/day, NSRL 310 mcg/day, EPA reference dose 20 mcg/kg body weight/day.