Scope and method
Every limit on every subcategory is the strictest maximum level set by any credible government worldwide, converted to the product’s native basis, with a disclosed read-across from the nearest government value where no government regulates the exact product. Nothing is invented; every number traces to a named sovereign limit in the regulation references.
Method: government-limit default (Method v2.0). The 8:1 powder-to-liquid basis conversion applies only within infant formula; every other subcategory takes government limits at face value. Tier 1 toxics (Pb, Cd, iAs, Hg) are zero-tolerance; Tier 2 (tAs, Ni, Al, Sn, Cr) carry the program’s 150% transitional allowance. Arsenic is limited in both forms: total arsenic (tAs) and inorganic arsenic (iAs) are separate ceilings that must both be met, and the species result never replaces the parent total. Where an analyte is not regulated for a product and is not material in that matrix, it is controlled: total-chromium screening with reflex hexavalent-chromium speciation, any quantifiable Cr(VI) a hard fail: rather than assigned an invented number.
Master limit matrix
All values ppb (µg/kg) in each row’s native basis. Split cells show the formulation or matrix variants (cow/soy, rice/non-rice). Click any subcategory for its full government-by-government derivation. n/m = not material in the matrix: measured but with no standalone number, controlled by the total-metal screen or packaging control, not an invented value.
| Subcategory | Lead | iAs | tAs | Hg | Cd | Cr | Ni | Sn | Al | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infant formula (powder) | 20 | 20 | 50 | 15 | 10 cow / 20 soy | 2000 | 250 cow / 400 soy | 5000 | 4000 cow / 8000 soy | as sold |
| Infant formula (ready-to-feed, liquid) | 10 | 10 | 50 | 4 | 5 cow / 10 soy | 300 | 100 | 5000 | 500 cow / 1000 soy | as consumed |
| Baby cereals & dry grain products | 20 | 20 | 50 | 8 | 40 | 1000 | 3000 | 5000 | 500 | as sold |
| Fruit purées | 10 | 20 | 50 | 8 | 40 | 1000 | 500 | 5000 | 500 | as consumed |
| Non-root vegetable purées | 10 | 20 | 50 | 8 | 40 | 500 | 500 | 5000 | 500 | as consumed |
| Root-vegetable purées | 20 | 20 | 50 | 8 | 40 | 500 | 500 | 5000 | 500 | as consumed |
| Mixed meals (meat & grain combinations) | 10 | 20 | 50 | 8 | 40 | 500 | 500 | 5000 | 500 | as consumed |
| Fruit juice (not canned) | 20 | 20 | 50 | 10 | 10 | 50 | 250 | 5000 | 500 | as consumed |
| Teething biscuits & finger snacks | 20 | 20 | 50 | 8 | 40 | 1000 | 3000 | 5000 | 500 | as sold |
Risk Flag
These subcategories carry a natural or process background that runs above the limit: the limit being the strictest government maximum for the product, never a percentile of market data (Method v2.0). A product is not disqualified by this: only its own tested result decides certification, and a well-sourced lot can sit well below the market. What the pooled occurrence literature shows is where the work is: which ingredients demand exceptional sourcing.
Aluminium
Grains and cereals, aluminium-based leavening agents (baking powder made with sodium aluminium sulfate or phosphate), and some tablet and capsule excipients carry high aluminium. No government sets an aluminium limit for solid infant food, so the standard holds these products to the strictest sovereign infant aluminium ceiling, the AU-NZ infant-formula limit, as a protective read-across, rather than to the only limit that names solid foods (an adult additive-residue allowance many times looser). Much of the excess comes from aluminium-based leavening, which a brand can reformulate away with aluminium-free baking powder.
Inorganic arsenic
Inorganic arsenic is taken up from soil, irrigation water, and seawater; rice and rice-derived ingredients, and some seaweeds, carry it far above the strictest sovereign limits.
Lead
Lead is taken up from soil and can enter through adulteration; grains and rice, protein and collagen powders, spices, root and tuber vegetables, and some botanicals are common carriers.
Total arsenic
Rice and rice-derived ingredients carry high total arsenic; where the category sets total arsenic as a firm ceiling rather than a speciation screen, rice-based products run above it.
Multipliers are the ratio of the pooled occurrence median to the published limit; occurrence characterises the market only and carries no compliance weight. 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 consolidated, version-pinned PDF of the full expanded manual is available in the rail and links every value to its derivation; each subcategory page remains individually downloadable and citable.
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.
Version history
The dated editions of this manual. Each is kept at a stable permalink, so a regulator or brand can reconstruct exactly what the manual required on any date: the edition record, not an editorial commit trail. Version-pinned DOIs link here once each edition is deposited.
| Version | Date | Status | DOI | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 web edition | 2026-08-06 | current | pending (Crossref) | Reorganized to the nine rendered subcategories under the government-limit default (Method v2.0). Consolidated, version-pinned PDF now published (v2); a DOI is minted on deposit. |
| 2026 deposit (rev.) | 2026-06-20 | superseded | 10.5281/zenodo.20771543 | 384-page deposited volume; revision incorporating the Expedited Baseline (Governance §4.5) and Lot Testing Schedule v2.1. |
| 2026 deposit (v0) | 2026-05-18 | superseded | 10.5281/zenodo.20270512 | First public deposit of the standalone 384-page volume. |
The concept DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20270511 always resolves to the latest deposited edition.