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 Herbs, spices, and dried seasonings (turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, chili powder, pepper)’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. 4 of 11 analytes carry a firm ceiling; the remaining 7 are governed by mandatory control or the total-metal screen 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 | 600–2000 | strictest government ML, set by product form (see derivation) |
| Cadmium (Cd) | Tier 1 | 1000 | strictest government ML (Vietnam) |
| Total arsenic (tAs) | Tier 2 | 1500 | strictest government ML (Singapore) |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | Tier 1 | control | mandatory control: no government ML; screened every lot (see note) |
| Mercury, total (tHg) | Tier 1 | 50 | strictest government ML (Vietnam) |
| Methylmercury (MeHg) | Tier 1 | n/m | not material: controlled analyte (see note) |
| Nickel (Ni) | Tier 2 | control | mandatory control: no government ML; screened every lot (see note) |
| Tin (Sn) | Tier 2 | control | mandatory control: no government ML; screened every lot (see note) |
| Aluminium (Al) | 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) |
Tier 1 (Pb, iAs, Hg, MeHg, Cd) are zero-tolerance toxics with no established safe threshold. Tier 2 (tAs, Ni, Sn, Al, Cr, Cr-VI) 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
For Herbs, spices, and dried seasonings (turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, chili powder, pepper), each HMTc limit is the strictest maximum level any credible government sets for the product, named in the Binding column with the count of jurisdictions that concur at that value. Where no government regulates the analyte, the cell is a mandatory control or a not-material determination, never an invented number.
| Analyte | HMTc | Binding | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (Pb) | 600–2000 | by product form (below) | sovereign ML, form-specific |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 1000 | Vietnam | direct sovereign ML |
| Total arsenic (tAs) | 1500 | Singapore | direct sovereign ML |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | control | screened every lot | mandatory control: no government ML |
| Mercury, total (tHg) | 50 | Vietnam | direct sovereign ML |
| Methylmercury (MeHg) | n/m | ≤ tHg | not material in this matrix |
| Nickel (Ni) | control | screened every lot | mandatory control: no government ML |
| Tin (Sn) | control | screened every lot | mandatory control: no government ML |
| Aluminium (Al) | n/m | controlled | not material in this matrix |
| Total chromium (Cr) | control | screened every lot | mandatory control: no government ML |
| Hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) | control | screened every lot | mandatory control: no government ML |
Form-specific limits
Where a government sets the maximum by product sub-form, the HMTc column above shows the range and the exact ceiling for each form is listed here. A certified product meets the ceiling for its own form.
| Product form | HMTc (µg/kg) | Binding jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|
| fruit spices (paprika, chili powder, black pepper, allspice) | 600 | EU |
| seed spices (cumin, coriander, fennel, mustard) | 900 | EU |
| flower/pistil spices (saffron) | 1000 | EU |
| bud spices (cloves) | 1000 | EU |
| root and rhizome spices (turmeric, ginger) | 1500 | EU |
| bark spices (cinnamon) | 2000 | EU |
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.
28 studies in the certified-market pool measured lead in Spices across 1702 certified-market samples. The pooled distribution centres on a median of 138 ppb and reaches 30.6 mg/kg at the 95th percentile, with a measured maximum of 31.9 mg/kg. Kowalska 2021, Matloob 2016, Winiarska-Mieczan 2023, Lech 2020, CFIA 2025, Tinggi 2025, Brown 2022, Sabri 2025 and 20 more.
HMTc sets 600 ppb (regulatory-alignment): the strictest applicable government maximum level for this product form, adopted under Method v2.0 as the default certification standard. Why lead is limited →
21 studies in the corpus measured cadmium in Spices (2192 samples reported across those studies): Winiarska-Mieczan 2023, Matloob 2016, CFIA 2025, Tinggi 2025, Sabri 2025, Mercan-Yucel 2022, Bahrouna 2025, Huff 2025 and 13 more. Reported concentrations range from 47 ppb to 493 ppb, with a typical value of 47 ppb.
HMTc sets 1 mg/kg (regulatory-alignment): the strictest applicable government maximum level for this product form, adopted under Method v2.0 as the default certification standard. Why cadmium is limited →
13 studies in the corpus measured total arsenic in Spices (412 samples reported across those studies): CFIA 2025, Tinggi 2025, Sabri 2025, Mercan-Yucel 2022, Bahrouna 2025, Huff 2025, Moussa 2024, Oseisafo 2024 and 5 more. Reported concentrations range from 48 ppb to 497 ppb, with a typical value of 48 ppb.
HMTc sets 1.5 mg/kg (regulatory-alignment): the strictest applicable government maximum level for this product form, adopted under Method v2.0 as the default certification standard. Why total arsenic is limited →
9 studies in the certified-market pool measured total mercury in Spices across 357 certified-market samples. The pooled distribution centres on a median of 29 ppb and reaches 1.1 mg/kg at the 95th percentile. Matloob 2016, CFIA 2025, Fischer 2022, Bahrouna 2025, Tinggi 2025, Moussa 2024, Cicero 2022, Marinescu 2020 and 1 more.
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 1.5 mg/kg, at or above the government ceiling of 50 ppb, so the government maximum binds. Why total mercury is limited →
The corpus holds 11 measurements of nickel in Spices (948 samples reported across those studies), which the determination below is tested against: EFSA 2015, Matloob 2016, Tinggi 2025, Sabri 2025, Mercan-Yucel 2022, Bahrouna 2025, Cicero 2022, Savic 2019 and 3 more.
HMTc sets no standalone nickel limit for Spices. No jurisdiction sets a nickel maximum level for dried spices. The EU sets nickel only for fresh herbs (1200 ug/kg) and leafy vegetables (500 ug/kg) on a fresh-weight basis; reading either across to a dried spice would be a basis error (drying concentrates the analyte several-fold), so it would UNDERSTATE a protective standard and is not used. Nickel is screened instead of assigned a mis-based number. The analyte is controlled by Total-nickel screen (ICP-MS); no dried-spice sovereign ML; EU fresh-herb/leafy-veg nickel limits are fresh-basis and not comparable, not a standalone number. Why nickel is limited →
The corpus holds 1 measurement of tin in Spices (10 samples reported across those studies), which the determination below is tested against: Cicero 2022.
HMTc sets no standalone tin limit for Spices. No jurisdiction sets a tin maximum level for dried spices (tin MLs govern tinplate-canned product only). Routed sources (cicero2022-minerals-spices-aromatic-herbs, pradhan2023-heracleum-nepalense-elements) report measurable trace tin in dried spices from soil/processing background, so tin is screened rather than dismissed as absent. The analyte is controlled by Total-tin screen (ICP-MS); no sovereign dried-spice tin ML; the canned-food 250 mg/kg limit is can-only, not a standalone number. Why tin is limited →
The corpus holds 7 measurements of aluminium in Spices (1211 samples reported across those studies), which the determination below is tested against: Tinggi 2025, Mercan-Yucel 2022, Cicero 2022, Savic 2019, ANSES 2026, Lhaac 2025, Pradhan 2023.
HMTc sets no standalone aluminium limit for Spices. Aluminium in dried spices and herbs is natural mineral content: soil uptake by botanicals plus soil residue adhering to dried leaf/root material. EFSA lists tea, cocoa, spices and herbs as the leading aluminium-concentrating foods. The 2026-06-11 suspect-cell audit CONFIRMED_OK the spices Al pool as genuine as-sold dried-spice total aluminium (tinggi exposure model = food occurrence, not soil artifact). No credible regulator sets an aluminium contaminant ML for spices; dietary Al is TWI-managed (EFSA 1 mg/kg bw/wk; JECFA 2) with ~0.1-0.3% oral bioavailability. The analyte is controlled by Managed by intake vs TWI; periodic screen; no per-food contaminant ML, not a standalone number. A not-material determination is a rebuttable presumption; it is tested against the measured evidence above and rests on the chemistry, not on an absence of data. Why aluminium is limited →
Risk Flag
On the published occurrence literature to date, Herbs, spices, and dried seasonings (turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, chili powder, pepper) 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). Herbs, spices, and dried seasonings (turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, chili powder, pepper): HMTc standard. Institute of Contaminant Standards.
© 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.