Infant and Child Foods — HMTc Program Manual
The complete Heavy Metal Tested & Certified standard for Category 1, Infant and Child Foods (ages 0–5), edition 2026. 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 (Ni, Al, Sn, Cr) carry the program’s 150% transitional allowance. 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 nine subcategories
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; controlled by reflex speciation, not a number.
| Subcategory | Lead | iAs | Hg | Cd | Cr | Ni | Sn | Al | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infant formula (powder) | 20 | 20 | 20 | 10 cow / 20 soy | 2000 | 250 cow / 400 soy | 5000 | 4000 cow / 8000 soy | as sold |
| Infant formula (ready-to-feed, liquid) | 10 | 10 | 20 | 5 cow / 10 soy | 300 | 100 | 630 | 500 cow / 1000 soy | as consumed |
| Baby cereals & dry grain products | 20 | 100 rice-based / 20 non-rice | 20 | 40 | n/m | 3000 | 5000 | 500 | as sold |
| Fruit purées | 10 | 20 | 20 | 40 | n/m | 500 | 5000 | 500 | as consumed |
| Non-root vegetable purées | 10 | 20 | 20 | 40 | n/m | 500 | 5000 | 500 | as consumed |
| Root-vegetable purées | 20 | 20 | 20 | 40 | n/m | 500 | 5000 | 500 | as consumed |
| Mixed meals (meat & grain combinations) | 10 | 20 | 20 | 40 | n/m | 500 | 5000 | 500 | as consumed |
| Fruit juice (not canned) | 20 | 10 | 20 | 20 | n/m | 250 | 5000 | 500 | as consumed |
| Teething biscuits & finger snacks | 20 | 100 rice-based / 20 non-rice | 20 | 40 | n/m | 3000 | 5000 | 500 | as sold |
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. A consolidated, version-pinned PDF of the full expanded manual is in preparation and will be linked here on release; until then each subcategory page is 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.