The instrument
This page records the heavy-metal maximum levels set by Guidance for Industry: Action Level for Inorganic Arsenic in Rice Cereals for Infants, the instrument of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Human Foods Program / Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. 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. 14 maximum levels across 2 analytes and 14 product categories, grouped by analyte and ordered by limit.
| Limit µg/kg | Basis | Product scope | Provision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (Pb)10 limits | |||
| 10 | as consumed | Apple juice, single-strength (ready-to-drink): DRAFT/proposed action level, not yet finalized | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: Single-strength (ready-to-drink) as consu… |
| 10 | as sold or ready-to-eat as applicable | fruits; vegetables excluding single-ingredient root vegetables; mixtures including grain- and meat-based mixtures; yogurts; custards/puddings; single-ingredient meats for children under 2 | Nonbinding FDA final guidance |
| 10 | product as placed on market | Processed food packaged for babies and young children <2 yr: fruits, vegetables (excluding single-ingredient root vegetables), mixtures (gra | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: As packaged / ready-to-eat (as sold). Ref… |
| 10 | single-strength ready-to-drink juice | single-strength apple juice | Draft only |
| 20 | dry infant cereal | dry infant cereals for children under 2 | This is a lead action level, not an arsenic or cadmium standard. |
| 20 | single-strength ready-to-drink juice | other single-strength juices and juice blends | Draft only |
| 20 | as consumed | Other single-strength juices and juice blends (including blends containing apple juice), excluding single-strength apple juice: DRAFT/propo | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: Single-strength (ready-to-drink) as consu… |
| 20 | as consumed | Processed food packaged for babies and young children <2 yr: dry infant cereals | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: Dry infant cereal, as sold / as packaged… |
| 20 | product as placed on market | Processed food packaged for babies and young children <2 yr: single-ingredient root vegetables | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: As packaged / ready-to-eat (as sold). Ref… |
| 20 | as sold or ready-to-eat as applicable | single-ingredient root vegetables for children under 2 | Applies only where the product is a single-ingredient root vegetable covered by the guidance. |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs)4 limits | |||
| 10 | juice | apple juice | Apple-juice-specific |
| 10 | as consumed | Apple juice (single-strength / ready-to-drink) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: Single-strength (ready-to-drink) as consu… |
| 100 | as sold infant rice cereal | all types of infant rice cereals | Does not automatically apply to all rice-containing snacks or mixed meals. |
| 100 | product as placed on market | Rice cereals for infants (all types: white-rice, brown-rice, organic, conventional) | Worldwide-ingest 2026-08-03 (verified). Basis detail: Infant rice cereal as sold (dry semi-prep… |
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.