The instrument
This page records the heavy-metal maximum levels set by National Food Safety Standard: Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods, the instrument of National Health Commission (NHC) and State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), 2023. Every value below is transcribed into the Heavy Metal Index register from the primary text and is the value an HMTc standard cites when this jurisdiction binds a certification limit. It is a record of law, not an HMTc threshold.
Maximum levels
All values µg/kg (ppb), in the basis the instrument states. 20 maximum levels across 8 analytes and 19 product categories, grouped by analyte and ordered by limit.
| Limit µg/kg | Basis | Product scope | Provision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (Pb)7 limits | |||
| 10 | as consumed | Liquid (ready-to-feed) infant formula | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as-consumed liquid |
| 80 | product as placed on market | Formula food for infants and young children (powdered infant/follow-up/toddler formula) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market, powder: 'powdered p… |
| 150 | product as placed on market | Formulas for special medical purposes (excl. infant FSMP), products for 1-10 year olds | GB 2762-2022 Table 1 (lead), 0.15 mg/kg calculated as solid product. |
| 150 | product as placed on market | Formulas for special medical purposes (FSMP), products for children 1-10 years old (FSMP for infants excluded from this row) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market: 'solid product basi… |
| 200 | as consumed | Complementary/supplementary foods for infants and young children | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market (product as sold) |
| 500 | product as placed on market | Complementary food supplement (辅食营养补充品) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market (product as sold). Re… |
| 500 | product as placed on market | Formulas for special medical purposes (FSMP), products for children over 10 years old (FSMP for infants excluded) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market: 'solid product basi… |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs)4 limits | |||
| 100 | product as placed on market | Canned complementary foods for infants and young children, excluding products made from aquatic products and animal liver | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market (canned product as so… |
| 200 | product as placed on market | Cereal-based complementary foods for infants and young children, excluding products with added algae | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market (product as sold). Re… |
| 300 | product as placed on market | Canned complementary foods for infants and young children: products made from aquatic products and animal liver | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market (canned product as so… |
| 300 | product as placed on market | Cereal-based complementary foods for infants and young children: products with added algae | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market (product as sold). Re… |
| Total arsenic (tAs)3 limits | |||
| 500 | product as placed on market | Complementary food supplement (辅食营养补充品) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market (product as sold). Re… |
| 500 | product as placed on market | milk powder and modified milk powder (GB 2762-2022 Table 4, sections 4.4.1-4.4.2); total arsenic | Category mapping to infant formula powder is a proposed fit |
| 500 | product as placed on market | Milk powder and modified milk powder (general dairy category, distinct from infant formula) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market, powder (as sold). Re… |
| Cadmium (Cd)1 limit | |||
| 60 | product as placed on market | Cereal-based complementary foods for infants and young children | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market (product as sold). Re… |
| Mercury, total (tHg)1 limit | |||
| 20 | product as placed on market | Canned complementary foods for infants and young children (no methylmercury limit set for this category) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market (canned product as so… |
| Tin (Sn)1 limit | |||
| 50000 | product as placed on market | Formula foods and complementary foods for infants and young children, packaged in tinplate (tinned-plate-sheet) containers only | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market |
| Total chromium (Cr)1 limit | |||
| 2000 | product as placed on market | Milk powder and modified milk powder (general dairy category, distinct from infant formula); standard sets no hexavalent-chromium (Cr-VI) li | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on market, powder (as sold). Re… |
| Chromium (Cr)2 limits | |||
| 300 | product as placed on market | raw, pasteurized, sterilized, modified and fermented milk (GB 2762-2022 Table 7, section 4.7); total Cr, not Cr-VI | Applies to liquid milk categories |
| 2000 | product as placed on market | milk powder and modified milk powder (GB 2762-2022 Table 7, section 4.7); total Cr, not Cr-VI | Category mapping to infant formula powder is a proposed fit: Table 7 does not name infant formu… |
Where HMTc cites it
Cells where this instrument holds the strictest government value in force among credible regulators, and therefore binds a published HMTc limit. 1 published standard cites it.
Rows appear here only once the citing standard is published. A limit recorded above that binds nothing today may still bind later, as other jurisdictions relax or as a new subcategory is published.
How this interacts with HMTc
HMTc certification standards adopt the strictest existing maximum level set by any credible government, applied cell-by-cell. Where this instrument holds the strictest value for a (product, analyte) cell, it binds the HMTc limit and the standard cites this page. This page does not set or justify any HMTc threshold; it records the sovereign requirement the program measures against.
A reference page is a record of law, not an HMTc threshold. It states what a government requires; the standard page states what the program requires, and names which instrument binds each cell.