Primary-verified · 2026-08-05
This page records the infant and child food heavy-metal maximum levels set by Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 ((EU) 2023/915 (consolidated 02023R0915 — EN — 08.10.2025 — 006.001)), the instrument of European Commission, 2023. Every value below is transcribed 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.
Infant & child food limits
All values µg/kg (ppb), in the basis the instrument states. 25 limits for infant and child food categories.
| Analyte | Limit (µg/kg) | Basis | Product scope | Provision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cadmium (Cd) | 100 | commodity | cereals except listed cereal-specific rows | 3.2.12.1. |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 40 | product as placed on market | baby food and processed cereal-based food for infants and young children | 3.2.20. |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 20 | ready to use | drinks for infants and young children labelled and placed on the market as such, liquid or reconstituted, except formula and young-child formulae | 3.2.19.1 |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 10 | product as placed on market | infant formulae, follow-on formulae, food for special medical purposes intended for infants and young children, and young-child formulae placed on the market as liquid and manufactured from soy protein isolates alone or mixed with cow's milk proteins | 3.2.17.4. |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 20 | product as placed on market | infant formulae, follow-on formulae, food for special medical purposes intended for infants and young children, and young-child formulae placed on the market as powder and manufactured from soy protein isolates alone or mixed with cow's milk proteins | 3.2.17.3 |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 5 | product as placed on market | infant formulae, follow-on formulae, food for special medical purposes intended for infants and young children, and young-child formulae placed on the market as liquid and manufactured from cow's milk proteins or cow's milk protein hydrolysates | 3.2.17.2. |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 10 | product as placed on market | infant formulae, follow-on formulae, food for special medical purposes intended for infants and young children, and young-child formulae placed on the market as powder and manufactured from cow's milk proteins or cow's milk protein hydrolysates | 3.2.17.1 |
| Nickel (Ni) | 500 | product as placed on market | baby food except juices | |
| Nickel (Ni) | 3000 | product as placed on market | processed cereal-based food for infants and young children | |
| Nickel (Ni) | 100 | product as placed on market | infant/young-child formula, liquid | |
| Nickel (Ni) | 400 | product as placed on market | infant/young-child formula, powder, soy protein isolate | |
| Nickel (Ni) | 250 | product as placed on market | infant/young-child formula, powder, except soy-isolate | |
| Nickel (Ni) | 3000 | product as placed on market | pseudo cereals and millet | |
| Nickel (Ni) | 800 | product as placed on market | cereals except durum/rice/husked-rice/pseudocereal/oat rows | |
| Lead (Pb) | 20 | product as placed on market | baby food and processed cereal-based food for infants and young children, except covered infant drinks and formula/medical foods | 3.1.26. |
| Lead (Pb) | 20 | ready to use | drinks for infants and young children placed on the market and labelled as such, liquid or reconstituted, except formula and food for special medical purposes | 3.1.25.1 |
| Lead (Pb) | 10 | product as placed on market | infant formulae, follow-on formulae, and young-child formulae placed on the market as liquid | 3.1.24.2. |
| Lead (Pb) | 20 | product as placed on market | infant formulae, follow-on formulae, and young-child formulae placed on the market as powder | 3.1.24.1 |
| Tin (Sn) | 50000 | product as placed on market | canned baby food and canned processed cereal-based food for infants and young children, except canned dried and canned powdered products | 3.5.4. |
| Tin (Sn) | 50000 | product as placed on market | canned infant formulae, canned follow-on formulae, and canned young-child formulae, except canned dried and canned powdered products | 3.5.3. |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | 100 | rice commodity | rice destined for production of food for infants and young children | 3.4.1.5 |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | 20 | product as placed on market | baby food for infants and young children | 3.4.3 |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | 10 | product as placed on market | infant formulae, follow-on formulae, food for special medical purposes intended for infants and young children, and young-child formulae placed on the market as liquid | 3.4.2.2 |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | 20 | product as placed on market | infant formulae, follow-on formulae, food for special medical purposes intended for infants and young children, and young-child formulae placed on the market as powder | 3.4.2.1 |
| Mercury, total (tHg) | 10 | mg/kg as mercury | cereals including rice | Reg 396/2005), not the 2023/915 contaminants framework. |
How this interacts with HMTc
HMTc certification standards adopt the strictest maximum level set by any credible government worldwide. 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.