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Cover of Food-Contact Consumer Goods and Kitchenware: HMTc Program Manual
Manual v1 · Method v2.0

Food-Contact Consumer Goods and Kitchenware: HMTc Program Manual

Standard

The Food-Contact Consumer Goods and Kitchenware Program Manual for Category 23: metal-safety limits, lot testing, and the standards register.

Scope and method

This manual states how Category 23 Food-Contact Consumer Goods and Kitchenware is certified for metal safety. It does not certify efficacy, legality, or approval status. Inorganic arsenic is capped at total arsenic and tested on the program retest schedule. It does not carry a separate number, and it never replaces the parent. Methylmercury is capped at total mercury and tested on the program retest schedule. It does not carry a separate number, and it never replaces the parent. Where hexavalent chromium has no separate number, it is capped at total chromium and tested on the program retest schedule. Where the live standard publishes a number, that number is the ceiling, and it does not replace the parent. Every figure in the matrix is read from the live standard record. Nothing in this manual invents a ceiling.

Method: government-limit default (Method v2.0). Why Method v1 was retired is on the method page. The thirty live standards remain the derivation of each cell. A product is certified only at or below 100% of every published ceiling. The v1 PDF carries the program rules and the standards register, including each house DOI.

Master limit matrix

All values are ppb (µg/kg), in the row's basis. Click any subcategory for its derivation. A dash is a species capped at its parent total (inorganic arsenic at total arsenic, methylmercury at total mercury, hexavalent chromium at total chromium) and tested on the program retest schedule. It is not an empty cell and not an invented number. A printed number on hexavalent chromium is the ceiling on that row.

SubcategoryPbiAstAsHgMeHgCdCr-VINiSnAlCrBasis
Bakeware10—210—2—1401000001000250as sold
Ceramic-coated cookware1500—1010—100—20100000100010as sold
Metal and alloy cookware (cast iron, stainless steel, aluminum)10—210—2—1401000001000250as sold
Nonstick-coated cookware10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Specialty alloy cookware (copper, carbon steel)10—210—2—1401000001000250as sold
Cutting boards (wood, plastic)10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Filter media and housings5—101—2102010000020050as sold
Cans/lids10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Caps/closures10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Flexible pouches/films10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Foils/wraps10—210—2—1401000005000250as sold
Glass jars10—1010—2—20100000100010as sold
Paperboard cartons10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Plastic tubs10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Blender jars10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Coffee-maker pathways10—210—2—1401000001000250as sold
Kettle interiors10—210—2—1401000001000250as sold
Food processor bowls10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Glass food storage containers10—1010—2—20100000100010as sold
Lids/gaskets10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Plastic food storage containers10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Silicone food storage10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Ceramicware4000—1010—300—20100000100010as sold
Decorative decals/coatings on tableware4000—1010—300—20100000100010as sold
Glassware10—1010—2—20100000100010as sold
Metal bottles/tumblers10—210—2—1401000001000250as sold
Plastic drinkware10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Metal utensils10—210—2—1401000001000250as sold
Plastic/silicone tools10—1010—2—201000000100010as sold
Water filters5—101—2102010000020050as sold
Every claim analyte is equal at the gate. A product is certified only when every published limit is met at or below 100% of its government floor or disclosed read-across. An exceedance on any metal enters Remediation and carries no mark.

Risk Flag

Certification is decided on the product's own tested lot against the published ceiling. The limit is that ceiling on the live standard. Occurrence data do not set it. An individual lot can still exceed a limit.

See the cross-category summary.

About this edition

Standards are living, versioned documents; each subcategory page carries its own version history and dated change log. This is the current web edition. The Manual v1 PDF is downloadable from the rail. Its program text and standards register match this page. The live subcategory pages remain the derivation of each cell. The manual DOI is not deposited yet.

The literature baseline underlying these certification limits is maintained independently at the Heavy Metal Index. This certification standard applies those findings; the two are kept editorially separate by design.