How limits are 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 Honey’s own as-sold 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-sold basis. 8 of 11 analytes carry a firm ceiling; the remaining 3 are toxic species bounded by their parent totals (species ≤ total, measured on every lot), so every analyte carries an enforceable ceiling. A brand meeting every value on a like-for-like basis qualifies for the mark.
| Analyte | Tier | HMTc limit | Binding basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (Pb) | Tier 1 | 100 | strictest government ML (Israel) |
| Cadmium (Cd) | Tier 1 | 100 | strictest government ML (Mercosur) |
| Total arsenic (tAs) | Tier 2 | 300 | strictest government ML (Mercosur) |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | Tier 1 | bounded | ≤ total tAs, measured every lot (see note) |
| Mercury, total (tHg) | Tier 1 | 50 | strictest government ML (Vietnam) |
| Methylmercury (MeHg) | Tier 1 | bounded | ≤ total tHg, measured every lot (see note) |
| Nickel (Ni) | Tier 2 | 800 | government read-across (EU) |
| Total chromium (Cr) | Tier 2 | 1000 | government read-across (China) |
| Hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) | Tier 2 | bounded | ≤ total Cr, measured every lot (see note) |
| Tin (Sn) | Tier 2 | 250000 | government read-across (Singapore) |
| Aluminium (Al) | Tier 2 | 100000 | government read-across (China) |
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) are held to the same government limit: tiering sets how the program reacts to an exceedance, not any permission to exceed it. A product is certified only when every analyte is at or below 100% of its published limit; above the limit, on any metal, it is not certified and carries no mark.
Derivation
The full derivation for Honey. Each row lists every government maximum level in force worldwide, converted to the as-sold 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 | Mercosur | Israel | Paraguay | Vietnam | Hong Kong | HMTc | Binds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (Pb) | 300 | 100 | 300 | 2000 | 100 | 100 | Israel |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 100 | — | 100 | 1000 | 600 | 100 | Mercosur |
| Total arsenic (tAs) | 300 | — | 300 | 1000 | — | 300 | Mercosur |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | — | — | — | — | — | bounded&sup5; | species ≤ tAs |
| Mercury, total (tHg) | — | — | — | 50 | — | 50 | Vietnam |
| Methylmercury (MeHg) | — | — | — | — | — | bounded&sup5; | species ≤ tHg |
| Nickel (Ni) | — | — | — | — | — | 800² | read-across |
| Total chromium (Cr) | — | — | — | — | — | 1000² | read-across |
| Hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) | — | — | — | — | — | bounded&sup5; | species ≤ Cr |
| Tin (Sn) | — | — | — | — | — | 250000² | read-across |
| Aluminium (Al) | — | — | — | — | — | 100000² | read-across |
All values µg/kg (ppb), as-sold basis. ² no government regulates this analyte for this exact product form: the value is a disclosed read-across from the nearest applicable government maximum, and the derivation names the instrument it comes from. It is never taken from occurrence data. After publication the standards ratchet may tighten it, using certified-lot results only. ³ not material in this matrix: measured but with no standalone number, controlled by packaging control or by the total-metal screen, not an invented value. &sup5; a toxic species governed by and bounded by its parent total (for example inorganic arsenic ≤ total arsenic): the species can never exceed the total, so the total ceiling is the species ceiling. The total metal is measured on every lot and the species is established at baseline; no separate species ceiling is published. On ongoing lots the species is speciated whenever the total exceeds its limit.
Occurrence and derivation rationale
For each analyte on the panel: what the peer-reviewed and survey literature measured in this category, cited one way to the Heavy Metal Index, and the Method v2.0 reasoning behind the certification limit, including, where no government sets a number, why the program sets one anyway. Occurrence figures are literature findings; the derivation is the certifier's.
9 studies in the certified-market pool measured lead in Honey across 155 certified-market samples. The pooled distribution centres on a median of 100 ppb and reaches 999 ppb at the 95th percentile. Wise 2025, Gunes 2021, Aghamirlou 2015, Naccari 2025, Shukla 2020, Tomczyk 2020, Abeslami 2025, Aburas 2023 and 1 more.
HMTc sets 100 ppb (regulatory-alignment): the strictest applicable government maximum level for this product form, adopted under Method v2.0 as the default certification standard. The certified-market pool's P97 is 1.4 mg/kg, at or above the government ceiling of 100 ppb, so the government maximum binds. Why lead is limited →
9 studies in the certified-market pool measured cadmium in Honey across 161 certified-market samples. The pooled distribution centres on a median of 9.2 ppb and reaches 57 ppb at the 95th percentile. Gunes 2021, Aghamirlou 2015, Salama 2019, Naccari 2025, Shukla 2020, Tomczyk 2020, Abeslami 2025, Aburas 2023 and 1 more.
HMTc sets 100 ppb (regulatory-alignment): the strictest applicable government maximum level for this product form, adopted under Method v2.0 as the default certification standard. The certified-market pool's P97 is 90 ppb (provisional), against a government ceiling of 100 ppb. Why cadmium is limited →
7 studies in the certified-market pool measured total arsenic in Honey across 107 certified-market samples. The pooled distribution centres on a median of 4.8 ppb and reaches 62 ppb at the 95th percentile. Wise 2025, Gunes 2021, Naccari 2025, Salama 2019, Bektashi 2021, Shukla 2020, Aghamirlou 2015.
HMTc sets 300 ppb (regulatory-alignment): the strictest applicable government maximum level for this product form, adopted under Method v2.0 as the default certification standard. The certified-market pool's P97 is 64 ppb, against a government ceiling of 300 ppb. Why total arsenic is limited →
2 studies in the certified-market pool measured total mercury in Honey across 37 certified-market samples. The pooled distribution centres on a median of 22 ppb and reaches 63 ppb at the 95th percentile. Gunes 2021, Salama 2019.
HMTc sets 50 ppb (regulatory-alignment): the strictest applicable government maximum level for this product form, adopted under Method v2.0 as the default certification standard. The certified-market pool's P97 is 75 ppb, at or above the government ceiling of 50 ppb, so the government maximum binds. Why total mercury is limited →
4 studies in the certified-market pool measured nickel in Honey across 45 certified-market samples. The pooled distribution centres on a median of 536 ppb and reaches 1.3 mg/kg at the 95th percentile. Aghamirlou 2015, Naccari 2025, Tomczyk 2020, Bektashi 2021.
HMTc sets 800 ppb by read-across: Ni 800 ug/kg: disclosed read-across from EU eu2024_ni_cereals_800 (cereals except durum/rice/husked-rice/pseudocere). Filled by the completeness sweep; nearest applicable sovereign for this matrix and basis. Why nickel is limited →
5 studies in the certified-market pool measured aluminium in Honey across 691 certified-market samples. The pooled distribution centres on a median of 25.6 mg/kg and reaches 134 mg/kg at the 95th percentile. Wise 2025, Naccari 2025, Tomczyk 2020, Bektashi 2021, FSANZ 2011.
HMTc sets 100 mg/kg by read-across: Al 100000 ug/kg: disclosed read-across from CN cn_gb2760_2024_al_baked_foods_100000 (baked foods (bread, pastries, cakes, biscuits, c). Filled by the completeness sweep; nearest applicable sovereign for this matrix and basis. Why aluminium is limited →
Risk Flag
On the published occurrence literature to date, Honey shows no systematic gap between typical market levels and the limit: the limit being the strictest government maximum for the product (Method v2.0). Certification is decided on a product’s own tested result, not on a distribution; an individual lot or supplier can still exceed a limit.
See the cross-category summary of the ingredients that most often struggle.
Cite this standard
Pendergrass, K. (2026). Honey: HMTc standard (Standard No. 10.83138/hmtc.std.31.honey). Institute of Contaminant Standards. https://doi.org/10.83138/hmtc.std.31.honey
© 2026 Institute of Contaminant Standards / Heavy Metal Certified. All rights reserved.
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.