How every number on this page is set
The standard for each analyte is the strictest maximum level set by any credible government regulator — among them the European Union, Codex Alimentarius, the US FDA, Australia/New Zealand, the Gulf states (GSO), and the national authorities of every jurisdiction that regulates the product — converted into Fish sauce (fermented anchovy/marine sauce)’s own as-consumed basis. It is a lookup of sovereign law, carrying at most one disclosed basis conversion where the law is written in another basis, and an explicit read-across where no government regulates the exact product. A certified product sits at or below every applicable sovereign limit at once.
Where no government regulates the exact product for an analyte, the standard does not go blank or invent a number: the limit is read across from the nearest government value for an analogous product, so a certified product still sits at or below a real sovereign limit. The ratchet tightens these after publication as surveillance warrants.
Master Limit Table
All values in ppb (µg/kg), as-consumed basis. 5 of 11 analytes carry a firm ceiling; the remainder are governed by mandatory control or reflex-speciation screening with no standalone number, itemised in the derivation below. A brand meeting every firm value on a like-for-like basis, and passing every control, qualifies for the mark.
| Analyte | Tier | HMTc limit | Binding basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (Pb) | Tier 1 | 300 | government read-across (EU) |
| Cadmium (Cd) | Tier 1 | 50 | government read-across (Costa Rica) |
| Total arsenic (tAs) | Tier 2 | 2000 | government read-across (AU/NZ) |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | Tier 1 | 100 | government read-across (EU) |
| Mercury, total (tHg) | Tier 1 | 300 | government read-across (EU) |
| Methylmercury (MeHg) | Tier 1 | bounded | bounded by tHg — reflex speciation (see note) |
| Nickel (Ni) | Tier 2 | n/m | not material — controlled analyte (see note) |
| Total chromium (Cr) | Tier 2 | control | mandatory control — no government ML; screened every lot (see note) |
| Hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) | Tier 2 | control | mandatory control — no government ML; screened every lot (see note) |
| Tin (Sn) | Tier 2 | n/m | not material — controlled analyte (see note) |
| Aluminium (Al) | Tier 2 | n/m | not material — controlled analyte (see note) |
Tier 1 (Pb, iAs, Hg, MeHg, Cd) are zero-tolerance toxics with no established safe threshold. Tier 2 (tAs, Ni, Cr, Cr-VI, Sn, Al) carry a 150% transitional allowance under the program’s Status A–E framework.
Derivation — every government’s number, side by side
The full derivation for Fish sauce (fermented anchovy/marine sauce). Each row lists every government maximum level in force worldwide, converted to the as-consumed basis; the HMTc limit is the strictest of them, and the last column names which sovereign law binds. A blank cell means that government sets no limit for this analyte in this product.
| Analyte | HMTc | Binds |
|---|---|---|
| Lead (Pb) | 300² | read-across |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 50² | read-across |
| Total arsenic (tAs) | 2000² | read-across |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | 100² | read-across |
| Mercury, total (tHg) | 300² | read-across |
| Methylmercury (MeHg) | bounded&sup5; | ≤ tHg |
| Nickel (Ni) | n/m³ | controlled |
| Total chromium (Cr) | control&sup4; | screened |
| Hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) | control&sup4; | screened |
| Tin (Sn) | n/m³ | controlled |
| Aluminium (Al) | n/m³ | controlled |
All values µg/kg (ppb), as-consumed basis. ² no government sets this analyte for this exact product form: the value is read across from the nearest government limit for an analogous product, or — where the Binds column reads occurrence or precautionary — taken from measured occurrence data or set as a precautionary near-neighbour value; the ratchet tightens it as surveillance warrants. ³ not material in this matrix: controlled by reflex speciation or packaging control, not a standalone number. &sup4; no sovereign maximum exists for this analyte in this product, but a credible exposure pathway does — it is screened on every lot under ALARA against the tightest analogous reference, not assigned an invented number. &sup5; a species governed by and bounded by its parent total (for example inorganic arsenic ≤ total arsenic); no separate ceiling is published and reflex speciation enforces it whenever the total is elevated.
Cite this standard
Pendergrass, K. “Fish sauce (fermented anchovy/marine sauce).” In Heavy Metal Tested & Certified (HMTc) Condiments, Sauces and Dressings standard, version 1.0. Institute of Contaminant Standards (ICS), 2026. DOI: registration pending.
The literature baseline for every analyte is maintained independently at the Heavy Metal Index. This certification standard applies those findings; the two are kept editorially separate by design.