Consumer Reports
Product testerConsumer Reports, Inc., an independent nonprofit membership organization that tests and compares products. · United States
Visit the source site · Audited 2026-10-14
Who pays for it
For the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025, Consumer Reports reported $244.422 million in operating revenue and support, including $208.333 million from subscriptions, newsstand and other sales and $32.531 million in contributions.
Status: Supporting
Supporting because member-funded product testing has strong independence controls, but it is not a clinical authority. Product tests and chosen thresholds do not replace public-health guidance.
How SafeMomma uses it
SafeMomma cites Consumer Reports for dated product-testing evidence, not as a clinical guideline or a test of every product batch.
The audit
- Who controls it
- Staff and specialist laboratories produce Consumer Reports ratings. The organization says it buys rated products anonymously at retail and does not accept manufacturer samples, advertising or payment for ratings or placement.
- Money
- In FY2025, operating revenue and support was $244.422 million: $208.333 million from subscriptions, newsstand and other sales, $32.531 million in contributions and $3.558 million released from restrictions. It also earns affiliate commissions and TrueCar-related fees.
- Conflict rules
- Consumer Reports says it screens commercial partnerships so they do not affect ratings, reviews or placement. It discloses affiliate links and TrueCar fees, but not every article has author-level financial disclosures or a project-level donor listing.
- Method
- Its tests use staff and partner labs, with member survey data where relevant, and category-specific methods. Its 2025 formula investigation tested 41 powdered formulas; it was not a clinical guideline or a representative test of every formula batch.
- Dates on its pages
- Fiscal 2025 financials are published, and product stories generally carry publication or update dates; sample dates and the latest page update matter for each test.
- Political exposure
- Consumer Reports is nongovernmental and has no political appointee control over its ratings. In 2025 it shared its formula results with FDA before the agency announced an oversight initiative; the review found no administration-ordered rewrite or reversal of a rating.
- Money exposure
- Consumer Reports documents affiliate commissions, TrueCar fees, member sales and grants. A Climate Imperative Foundation grant partly funded a gas-stove and indoor-air-quality project; the story disclosed support, but no amount, and no evidence reviewed showed a funder changed a result.
- Track record
- In January 2007, Consumer Reports withdrew an infant car-seat report after outside experts found testing and methodology errors, then strengthened procedures. In 2025 it corrected its formula report, including the highest lead result of 4.2 ppb for Enfamil Nutramigen; no verified lab error was established by the manufacturers' objections.
Where this comes from
Incentive exposure describes pressure from money or politics, not whether the source is right. Funding alone does not show influence.