Heavy metals in Banana

This page draws on evidence from UK Food Standards Agency and FDA, together with 5 peer-reviewed studies and 1 other cited source. The complete citation list is at the bottom of the page.

Overview

FSA/Fera measured this ingredient or non-infant-specific food composite in Table 6 of the FS102048 survey. Exact concentration values remain in progress until Table 6 is parsed into structured ingredient rows with less-than and semi-quantitative flags preserved. Survey of metals in commercial infant foods, infant formula and non-infant specific foods

Why this commodity accumulates heavy metals

Bananas are tropical monocarpic fruits grown in perennial rhizome-based plants across equatorial regions including Central and South America, the Caribbean, West Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Philippines. The banana fruit is enclosed in a thick peel that provides a significant physical barrier between the edible pulp and the external environment, substantially limiting direct surface deposition of atmospheric metals on the flesh. The primary metal exposure route for the pulp is root uptake through the corm and rhizome from surrounding soil, which delivers metals via the vascular system into the developing fruit.

The FDA FY2018-FY2020 TDS data for raw banana (TDS Food 80, n=27) show that bananas are a low-metal-burden commodity by most measures: lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), uranium (U), and total mercury (tHg) were all reported at zero across all or nearly all samples; total arsenic (tAs) reached a maximum of 3.2 ppb but had a median of zero; nickel (Ni) was the only analyte with a meaningful distribution, reaching a maximum of 140 ppb (FDA 2022). This is consistent with the general understanding that thick-skinned tropical fruits present low metal risk to consumers, and is corroborated by Mekonnen et al. 2024 (open-market banana, Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia), which reported Pb non-detect, Cd 0.130 ± 0.001 mg/kg dry weight (below the FAO/WHO 0.2 mg/kg limit), and Cr 0.773 ± 0.010 mg/kg dry weight in the edible portion — yielding the lowest hazard index (0.02) of the three fruits surveyed at those markets, against mango at 3.69.

Heavy metal contamination profile

This table summarizes the available occurrence evidence for each metal. A data gap means the literature was reviewed for this commodity and metal but no usable occurrence data was found. Key sources link to contributing studies.

Synthesis basis and censoring treatment

The earlier profile recorded lead, cadmium, total arsenic, total mercury, and chromium at [0, 0] with a p95 of 0. Those zeros were an artifact of the FDA Total Diet Study reporting below-limit results as literal zeros. In the FY2018 to FY2020 dataset banana lead sat below the 4 ppb reporting limit in all 27 samples, cadmium below 1 ppb, total mercury below 1 ppb, chromium below 50 ppb, and total arsenic below the 3 ppb limit in 26 of 27 samples with a single 3.2 ppb detect (FDA 2022). Each cell is now treated as left-censored at its reporting limit, and dry-weight sources are converted to fresh weight by multiplying by the banana edible fraction of 0.26.

Independent fresh-weight surveys confirm banana is a low-burden commodity without being empty. Lee et al. 2023 detected total chromium in every Korean fresh-fruit sample at an overall mean near 31 ppb fresh weight, and Mania et al. 2021 placed non-berry fresh-fruit mercury at a middle-bound mean of 0.3 to 1.7 ppb. Higher values from Mekonnen et al. 2024, whose Ethiopian open-market banana reported 0.130 mg/kg cadmium and 0.773 mg/kg chromium on a dry-weight basis (about 34 and 201 ppb fresh weight after conversion), and the above-limit values in the Islam et al. 2024 Bangladeshi review, are carried as elevated developing-market context rather than as the central tendency. Chromium values are total chromium, not hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI).

Routing

This node is linked from Fruit Purees.

Contamination Profile State

Per-analyte state — populated, in progress, or declared data gap — is carried authoritatively in the machine-readable contamination_profile frontmatter and the contamination-profile table above. Ingredient-level values belong here; finished-product values belong on the relevant product-category page.

FDA TDS FY2018-FY2020 Evidence

FDA’s FY2018-FY2020 Total Diet Study dataset includes this page’s routed matrix as TDS Food 80, “Banana, raw.” The normalized row-level data is stored in data/evidence/fda_tds_fy2018_2020_element_results_samples.csv, with per-food/per-analyte summaries in data/evidence/fda_tds_fy2018_2020_summary_by_food_analyte.csv. Concentrations are retained as FDA reported them, with reporting limits preserved separately; reported zeroes are not rewritten as <LOD without a source-specific rule. FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical Results

FDA TDS FY2018–FY2020 source observations

FDA measured the prepared foods named below. Each row describes that food and preparation, not every form of this ingredient. Values are µg/kg (ppb) on the FDA sample basis. ND means not detected; it is not a measured zero. Reporting limits can vary between composites. FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical Results

Ranges by source, region, and variety

The FDA FY2018-FY2020 TDS data (TDS Food 80, n=27) provide a US retail distribution, representing composite samples purchased across multiple US cities and reflecting the blended origin of retail bananas, predominantly from Ecuador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Honduras (FDA 2022). No geographic separation by source country is available in TDS data. The Mekonnen et al. 2024 study from Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, provides an African open-market context (banana n=9 composite from 40 individual samples) reporting Pb non-detect, Cd 0.130 ± 0.001 mg/kg dw, and Cr 0.773 ± 0.010 mg/kg dw on a dry-weight basis — confirming the low-Pb, low-Cd banana profile under different soil and agricultural-input conditions, though the dry-weight basis means direct comparison to FDA wet-weight values requires a moisture-content adjustment that the source does not provide. Variety variation (Cavendish versus plantain versus red banana) may produce different metal distributions, but no varietal comparison appears in the current corpus. The FSA UK survey (Survey of metals in commercial infant foods, infant formula and non-infant specific foods) includes banana among measured ingredients with values pending extraction.

Processing effects

The thick peel is discarded before consumption, removing any metals deposited on the outer surface. This is an effective natural separation step for atmospheric Pb deposition. Processing banana into purée (for baby food) or freeze-dried powder concentrates the pulp fraction; cooking (for banana bread, baked products) does not remove metals. Banana purée for infant food retains the full pulp metal load without the peel’s surface fraction. Freeze-drying concentrates metals proportionally to the water removed. Dried banana chips are produced from sliced, sometimes peel-off banana; if the peel is removed before drying, the chip carries only pulp-level metals, but if skin is partially retained in certain products, surface metals carry over.

Ingredient-derivative risk

The primary derivative forms are baby food purée, banana powder (for sports nutrition and baking), banana chips, and banana in blended fruit pouches. Baby food purées are the highest-priority concern from an infant exposure standpoint, given frequent consumption and the higher metal sensitivity of infants. The low overall metal burden of banana flesh (particularly Pb and Cd near zero in TDS data) makes banana a generally lower-risk ingredient in blended formulations. Banana purée has been examined as part of weaning food arsenate exposure studies (Signes-Pastor et al. 2018 examined weaning foods including fruit-category foods); banana’s tAs maximum of 3.2 ppb in TDS data indicates negligible arsenic contribution relative to grain-based ingredients.

Mitigation options

Sourcing levers

No quantified data on this lever in the current corpus; section will be expanded when relevant evidence is ingested.

Agronomic levers

No quantified data on this lever in the current corpus; section will be expanded when relevant evidence is ingested.

Processing levers

Peel removal before processing eliminates surface-deposited metals and is standard for all banana purée and derivative production. No additional processing-lever data appear in the current corpus.

Formulation levers

Banana’s low metal burden makes it a favorable ingredient for blending with higher-metal ingredients to dilute the formulation’s overall metal concentration; this lever is most relevant for fruit pouch products where banana is combined with cereals, root vegetables, or other higher-burden ingredients.

Testing and QC levers

No quantified data on this lever in the current corpus; section will be expanded when relevant evidence is ingested.

Packaging and storage levers

No quantified data on this lever in the current corpus; section will be expanded when relevant evidence is ingested.

Regulatory limits that apply

In the European Union, Regulation (EU) 2023/915 applies the general fresh fruit maximum level to banana: Pb 0.10 mg/kg (100 ppb) and Cd 0.050 mg/kg (50 ppb), wet weight as placed on the market (EU Regulation 2023/915 maximum levels for contaminants in food). The TDS data showing Pb and Cd at or near detection limits suggest that bananas in US retail would be well within these limits. No US FDA action level for Pb or Cd in fresh banana exists under the current Closer to Zero framework (FDA Closer to Zero — Program Overview). For processed banana purée in baby food, applicable action levels would derive from the processed product category. No Codex Alimentarius ML for heavy metals in banana appears in the current corpus.

Interpretation of source evidence

Source observations and population estimates are different. A non-detect supplies a reporting-limit bound for the tested composites. It does not show that this ingredient contains zero metal. Where a previous profile lacked matching source, species or basis support, its generic concentration has been withdrawn; the available source evidence is kept below.

inorganic arsenic (iAs). The FDA dataset does not measure this food/species pair. The former generic concentration is withdrawn; available evidence is retained by its actual source, matrix and basis.

WHO GEMS/Food retains the following distinct records. The ranges are source-scope lower-bound P10–P90 summaries; they are not a pooled typical value for this ingredient. Food-group records remain broader context. Differences in basis, period and geography are preserved. GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exports

Recovered WHO summaries alone do not resolve incompatible basis labels or establish that zero-coded results were measured zeros.

aluminum (Al). The former exact-zero concentration had no supported measured-zero interpretation. Source observations are retained separately; a population concentration is not quantified.

Other previously cited literature is retained as context; it does not establish the withdrawn numerical profile: Evaluation of Heavy Metals in Commercial Baby Foods.

U. FDA source observations are non-detects at the reporting limits below. They do not estimate a zero population concentration; other literature remains separate context.

References

Works cited in this page’s text, in first-appearance order. See Sources for this page’s source inventory. Each title links to a source record with bibliographic details, reported findings, and document provenance.

1. Survey of metals in commercial infant foods, infant formula and non-infant specific foodsFood Standards Agency / Fera Science Ltd · UK Food Standards Agency report FS102048 · 2016 · www.food.gov.ukGovernment
2. FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsU.S. Food and Drug Administration · FDA Total Diet Study · 2022 · www.fda.govDataset
3. Health Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements Contamination of Commonly Consumed Fruits in Bahir Dar Town, Northwest EthiopiaMekonnen BA, Yizengaw MG, Kassahun H, and Ketema G · International Journal of Food Science · 2024 · doi.org/10.1155/2024/6677324Peer-reviewed
4. Occurrence and health risk assessment of antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, nickel, and lead in fresh fruits consumed in South KoreaLee J, Hwang I, Park YS, and Lee DY · Applied Biological Chemistry · 2023 · doi.org/10.1186/s13765-023-00799-xPeer-reviewed
5. The content of lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and tin in fruit and their products based on monitoring studies – exposure assessmentMania M, Rebeniak M, Chabros E, Orshulyak O, and Postupolski J · Roczniki Państwowego Zakładu Higieny (Annals of the National Institute of Hygiene) · 2021 · doi.org/10.32394/rpzh.2021.0188Peer-reviewed
6. A Systematic Review on Heavy Metals Contamination in Bangladeshi Fruits and Their Associated Health RisksIslam MH, Nowar A, Islam S, Nayan MM, and Jubayer A · Environmental Health Insights · 2024 · doi.org/10.1177/11786302241309280Review
7. Infants’ dietary arsenic exposure during transition to solid foodSignes-Pastor AJ, Cottingham KL, Carey M, Sayarath V, Palys T, Meharg AA, et al. · Scientific Reports 8(1):7114 · 2018 · doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25372-1Peer-reviewed
8. GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsWorld Health Organization · GEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment Programme · 2026 · extranet.who.intDataset
9. Evaluation of Heavy Metals in Commercial Baby FoodsGaruba OD, Anglin JC, Good S, Olufemi SE, Oyawoye OM, and Sodipe A · Archives of Food and Nutritional Science · 2024 · doi.org/10.29328/journal.afns.1001056Peer-reviewed

Sources

Source records associated with this topic. Inclusion does not establish that every finding applies to this product or ingredient. References above identify works cited in the text.

Update history

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