This is Meat You Can Trust.

We test our meat for 300+ chemicals so you can feed yourself and your family with less second-guessing.

Are There Chemicals in My Meat?

At Force of Nature, we think a lot about what we and our families eat, touch, and breathe. We know that we live in a world where we’re exposed to all kinds of chemicals – some we can control and many we can’t. Most are hidden from us: chemicals added to our soils, pharmaceuticals given ‘preventatively’ to our livestock, and contaminants in water that show up downstream in our food. In the aisles of the grocery store are more seals, certifications, and claims than you can count, but few deliver actual peace of mind. They are boxes to check rather than actual proven outcomes — meaning while they might have a set of standards, they rarely actually test to see if those standards are being upheld. 

We want to be different. We have rigorous protocols in place and standards for our ranching partners to follow and we build those relationships on trust. But, in a world where it’s hard to see all the inputs, we want to test, not guess. When we say our meat is free from* over 300+ chemicals, we know because we’ve tested. We send our products to independent labs to be evaluated for the presence of a wide range of environmental and agricultural chemicals. 

Many of these are commonly used agricultural chemicals but others are things that are increasing concerns of legacy chemicals that live in soils. Four major things we’re proud to be free from? Glyphosate, antibiotics, PFAS, and heavy metals. 

4 Major Chemicals to Avoid in Meat 

Is there glyphosate in your meat?

Glyphosate. Maybe you’re familiar with this commonly used herbicide because it’s been an increasingly big part of the conversation. This is a weedkiller that’s used both industrially and by homeowners. Patented in the 1950’s as an antibiotic and found to be an effective killer of “weeds” (but really we don’t believe in weeds — we believe in diverse, healthy pastures) in the 1970’s. Even just recently, a study that found glyphosate to be safe is being reassessed. 

A growing body of evidence suggests glyphosate can alter the gut microbiome and markers of gut function, with effects that depend on dose and formulation. Exposure to glyphosate has an association with cancer, specifically non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk. With its original usage as an antibiotic, it’s no surprise that this weedkiller may be detrimental to life inside and outside the soil. Speaking of antibiotics…

Are there antibiotics in your meat?

Antibiotics (literally “against life”) are commonly used in livestock as both treatment and prevention of infections. They are also, somewhat surprisingly, used to promote growth – antibiotics can help animals put weight on faster, creating better yields in the industrial system. Antibiotic use in livestock ends up in our bodies in a couple of different ways. First, we eat the meat. Second, residues in waste matter are put back onto land and are aerosolized, finding their way into our bodies through our lungs and other food. Either way – it causes deleterious effects, reducing the diversity of our microbiome both in our bodies and the bacteria in the soil, contributing to a larger antimicrobial resistance problem. 

That’s why we do monthly testing for antibiotic residues. Our ranchers follow our protocols — no antibiotics ever, with any treated animals removed from our program — but we still test to verify that our supply chain is clean.

Are there PFAS in your meat?

Maybe you’ve heard of PFAS or so-called “forever chemicals” (because they last forever in the environment) in things like activewear made with synthetic materials like petroleum-derived plastics or as a part of coating on non-stick pans, but they’re often also in water and in soil from legacy industrial use and can find their way into the bodies of livestock and the meat we eat. In fact, cattle were one of the first ways that it was recognized that PFAS were harmful, with sick cattle showing up outside of DuPont factories in the thirties when they were invented. 

Scientific reviews connect PFAS exposure to issues with immunity, cholesterol, and cancers. 

Are there heavy metals in your meat?

Heavy metals – there’s nothing rock and roll about these. Lead, cadmium, mercury and the like can have really negative impacts in our bodies [cite some research] and are often found in soils. Heavy metals are a part of living in a world with geology, industry, and legacy pollution — affecting everything from kidney disease, cardiovascular health, and brain health. Elements like lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic can show up in soils and water, and food is one place we’re frequently exposed, which is why we test. 

So we test for heavy metals too. Our testing results show these as not detected or below the lab’s reporting thresholds, depending on the analyte and method. 

Our Commitment to Transparency

This testing is part of our ongoing effort to increase transparency. We’ll keep sampling products over time, keep spot testing where it matters, and keep evaluating what we measure over time. Because trust is not a claim you make once. It’s an outcome you verify, share, and maintain, so you can feed yourself — and your family —  with more peace of mind and less second-guessing.

*We test our meat for all of these and more and have only ever found them not detected or below the threshold of lab values (called “LOQ”). By sampling our products over time, we get the picture – they’re free from the things you worry about, and chock full of the vitamins and minerals you want. 

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