The instrument
This page records the heavy-metal maximum levels set by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs, as it forms part of retained/assimilated EU law in the United Kingdom (Great Britain), as amended, the instrument of UK Government (assimilated law; originally European Commission), 2006. 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. 16 maximum levels across 4 analytes and 16 product categories, grouped by analyte and ordered by limit.
| Limit µg/kg | Basis | Product scope | Provision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (Pb)7 limits | |||
| 10 | product as placed on market | Foods for special medical purposes intended specifically for infants and young children, marketed as liquid | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on the market in the marketed f… |
| 10 | as consumed | Infant formulae and follow-on formulae, marketed as liquid (ready-to-feed) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on the market in the marketed f… |
| 30 | as consumed | Drinks for infants and young children, labelled and sold as such, marketed as liquid or reconstituted per manufacturer instructions, includi | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: ready to drink / as reconstituted per man… |
| 50 | product as placed on market | Foods for special medical purposes intended specifically for infants and young children, marketed as powder | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on the market in the marketed f… |
| 50 | product as placed on market | Infant formulae and follow-on formulae, marketed as powder | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on the market in the marketed f… |
| 50 | product as placed on market | Processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children (excluding drinks in point 3.1.5) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on the market / as sold. Ref: 1… |
| 1500 | product as placed on market | Drinks for infants and young children, labelled and sold as such, to be prepared by infusion or decoction | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as sold (dry material to be brewed by inf… |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs)1 limit | |||
| 100 | product as placed on market | Rice destined for the production of food for infants and young children | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: raw rice as such (the rice raw material d… |
| Cadmium (Cd)5 limits | |||
| 5 | product as placed on market | Infant formulae and follow-on formulae, liquid formulae manufactured from cows' milk proteins or protein hydrolysates | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on the market in the marketed f… |
| 10 | product as placed on market | Infant formulae and follow-on formulae, liquid formulae manufactured from soya protein isolates alone or mixed with cows' milk proteins | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on the market in the marketed f… |
| 10 | product as placed on market | Infant formulae and follow-on formulae, powdered formulae manufactured from cows' milk proteins or protein hydrolysates | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on the market in the marketed f… |
| 20 | product as placed on market | Infant formulae and follow-on formulae, powdered formulae manufactured from soya protein isolates alone or mixed with cows' milk proteins | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on the market in the marketed f… |
| 40 | product as placed on market | Processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: as placed on the market / as sold. Ref: 1… |
| Tin (Sn)3 limits | |||
| 50000 | product as placed on market | Canned baby foods and canned processed cereal-based foods for infants and young children (excluding dried and powdered products) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: canned product as sold, wet weight (ready… |
| 50000 | product as placed on market | Canned dietary foods for special medical purposes intended specifically for infants (excluding dried and powdered products) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: canned product as sold, wet weight. Ref:… |
| 50000 | as consumed | Canned infant formulae and follow-on formulae, including infant milk and follow-on milk (excluding dried and powdered products) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: canned product as sold, wet weight (ready… |
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.
A limit recorded above binds nothing today only because another government holds a stricter value for every published cell. It 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.