Grapefruit

Completeness scorecard

Deterministic gap audit — no score is composite, no cell is LLM-judged. Each chip is re-derivable by re-running tools/evidence/build-ingredient-scorecard.mjs. review: residuals and missing data are worked autonomously via data/evidence/ingredient-scorecard-review-flags.csv and wiki/completeness-gaps.md.

This ingredient stub was created during the FDA FY2018-FY2020 Total Diet Study element-results ingest so future source ingests have a stable destination for this food matrix. FDA reports this item as TDS Food 92, “Grapefruit, raw.” fda2022-tds-elements-fy2018-fy2020

Why this commodity accumulates heavy metals

Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) is a tree fruit with a thick, protective rind that substantially shields the edible inner flesh from surface contamination pathways such as atmospheric deposition of Pb-containing particulates and spray-borne metal residues. Citrus trees are deep-rooted perennial crops that draw metals from subsoil horizons rather than only the topsoil layer, but grapefruit orchards in major commercial growing regions (Florida, Texas, California in the US; Mediterranean Spain; South Africa) typically occupy soils with moderate metal burdens, and the physiology of citrus root metal uptake does not involve the same high-efficiency channels as, for example, leafy vegetables or legumes. The thick rind (flavedo and albedo) accumulates more Pb and other atmospherically deposited metals than the edible flesh, but since the rind is not consumed in typical fresh-fruit use, the consumer exposure from grapefruit flesh is very low. The FDA TDS data for raw grapefruit (n=27) report every measured analyte (Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, U, tAs, tHg) below its reporting limit across the entire distribution fda2022-tds-elements-fy2018-fy2020; those below-limit results are carried as left-censored bounds rather than as measured zeros, and the European retail citrus survey that measured grapefruit directly detected lead and cadmium at low but non-zero concentrations in the whole fruit (see the Synthesis basis and censoring treatment section). Grapefruit flesh remains among the lowest-risk food matrices for heavy metal exposure, but the values are low rather than zero.

Heavy metal contamination profile

Per-analyte snapshot derived from the machine-readable contamination_profile in the frontmatter above. data gap indicates the literature has been reviewed for this commodity-analyte combination and no usable occurrence data was found (a finding, not a placeholder). The Key sources column shows the top 2-3 contributing sources by year and sample size, with numbered wikilink aliases.

Synthesis basis and censoring treatment

The lead, cadmium, total-arsenic, total-mercury, nickel, chromium, and uranium cells were resynthesized on 2026-06-11 on a raw-grapefruit edible-flesh wet-weight basis, the form in which the fresh fruit is consumed. Values below the analytical limit of detection or quantification are treated as left-censored, not as measured zeros.

The earlier profile reported all seven of these analytes at typical and 95th-percentile values of zero at high confidence. Those figures were an artifact of the FDA Total Diet Study FY2018-FY2020 composite for “Grapefruit, raw” (n=27), in which every sample fell below the reporting limit for each metal and the reported below-limit results were pooled as literal zeros (fda2022-tds-elements-fy2018-fy2020, reporting limits Pb 4, Cd 1, tAs 3, tHg 1, Ni 40, Cr 50, U 1 µg/kg). The resynthesis replaces the literal zeros with the honest FDA censored floor expressed as a left-censored bound, and, for lead and cadmium, with the detected European retail-citrus distribution. The honest floor for each fully censored analyte is the FDA reporting limit expressed as a left-censored bound, not a measured zero.

Lead and cadmium rest on the single European retail-citrus survey that measured grapefruit by name (Czech et al. 2021, ICP-OES, whole fruit, Turkish/Israeli origin via Polish retail, 2019). That study reports whole-fruit lead of 27.2 µg/kg in red grapefruit, 19.6 µg/kg in green grapefruit, and 15.9 µg/kg in white grapefruit, and whole-fruit cadmium of 0.9 µg/kg (red), 1.1 µg/kg (green), and 1.31 µg/kg (white). These are whole-fruit values that include the peel, which Czech et al. show concentrates lead and cadmium above the pulp; they therefore sit at or above the true edible-flesh concentration and are carried as an upper anchor on a flesh page, not as a flesh central. The pooled lead typical of [0, 20] takes the FDA censored floor as the low bound and the white/green whole-fruit central as the upper; the lead 95th-percentile of 27 µg/kg is the red-grapefruit whole-fruit maximum, the top of the ordered pooled set. The cadmium typical of [0, 1] and 95th-percentile of 1 µg/kg likewise span the FDA censored floor to the Czech whole-fruit central, rounded to the resolution the source supports. Both cells are held at low confidence: only two contributors exist, the only positive measurements are whole-fruit rather than pulp-only, and the FDA composite is fully censored.

Total arsenic, total mercury, nickel, and chromium rest on the FDA censored floor alone. No source in the corpus reports a grapefruit-specific positive value for these four analytes: the FDA TDS composite is below the reporting limit for all of them, and the fruit-by-product review that names grapefruit in scope (Tsegay et al. 2025) carries no grapefruit row in its Table 1 — its citrus by-product entries are pomelo, orange, lemon, lime, and mandarin, none of which may be relabeled as grapefruit. Each of these four cells is therefore recorded with the FDA reporting limit as a left-censored low bound ([0, null]) and no upper bound or 95th-percentile, at low confidence and a single contributor. Total arsenic is held distinct from inorganic arsenic, which remains a reviewed data gap because no speciated measurement exists for this ingredient. Total mercury is held distinct from methylmercury and is not derived from it.

Chromium is reported as total chromium at low confidence; no grapefruit hexavalent-chromium measurement exists in the corpus, so no Cr-VI value is inferred. Uranium is recorded as a reviewed data gap: FDA reports it below the 1 µg/kg reporting limit across all 27 composites and no other source reports an extractable quantitative value, so no distribution is published (the rice-uranium precedent).

FDA TDS FY2018-FY2020 Evidence

The normalized row-level data for this TDS food 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 the reporting-limit column preserved separately; reported zeroes are not rewritten as <LOD unless a source explicitly says to do so. fda2022-tds-elements-fy2018-fy2020

Routing

This node is linked from the ingredient index and the FDA TDS source routing table.

Contamination Profile State

The machine-readable contamination profile is in_progress for analytes measured in the TDS file and pending for profile metals not measured by this source. Ingredient-level values belong here once cross-source synthesis is reviewed; product-category values belong on the relevant product page.

FDA TDS FY2018-FY2020 Occurrence Values

FDA Total Diet Study FY2018-FY2020 reports prepared/composite-food concentration distributions for this ingredient as TDS food “Grapefruit, raw” (fda2022-tds-elements-fy2018-fy2020). Values are in ppb-equivalent on the basis FDA reported. The full sample-level data are stored in data/evidence/fda_tds_fy2018_2020_element_results_samples.csv; per-analyte distributions in data/evidence/fda_tds_fy2018_2020_summary_by_food_analyte.csv. These distributions count as one source under persistent-wiki-ingest-rule synthesis discipline; numerical values stay in body scratch until a second independent source is integrated.

Ranges by source, region, and variety

The FDA TDS data for grapefruit raw (n=27) report all measured analytes below the reporting limit throughout the distribution fda2022-tds-elements-fy2018-fy2020; these are left-censored bounds, not measured zeros, so they constrain the flesh metal burden from above rather than establishing it at zero. The European retail-citrus survey that measured grapefruit by name detected low but non-zero lead and cadmium in the whole fruit, with a varietal gradient: red grapefruit carried the most lead (27.2 µg/kg whole fruit) and white grapefruit the least (15.9 µg/kg), while cadmium ran the opposite way, highest in white grapefruit (1.31 µg/kg) and lowest in red (0.9 µg/kg) (Czech et al. 2021). These are whole-fruit values that include the peel; the rind fraction, which is excluded from the TDS measurement of the raw edible portion, concentrates Pb and Cd above the pulp and is the principal source of the variation seen across varieties. The pulp-only edible flesh therefore sits at or below these whole-fruit figures. Organic versus conventional production may affect surface residue metals on the rind but would not substantially alter flesh metal concentrations given the protective rind barrier.

Processing effects

Peeling grapefruit before consumption removes the rind, which carries the majority of any atmospherically deposited surface Pb or Cd; the edible flesh that remains is the lowest-metal portion of the fruit. Juicing involves expression of juice from the flesh segment, with minimal contribution from the rind in mechanical juice extraction, though peel oils expressed in some commercial juicing operations can introduce surface-associated metals into the juice fraction. The FDA TDS measures raw grapefruit as the intact edible portion after peeling, which is appropriate for representing consumer exposure from fresh grapefruit consumption.

Ingredient-derivative risk

Grapefruit juice (covered separately at grapefruit-juice) is the primary derivative. Grapefruit zest and grapefruit peel extract, used in flavoring and confectionery, concentrate metals from the rind and would carry higher Pb and potentially higher Cd than the flesh; these are niche applications and are not characterized in the current corpus. Grapefruit seed extract, used as a natural antimicrobial in food and dietary supplements, is produced from seed and membrane fraction and is also not characterized in the current corpus.

Mitigation options

Sourcing levers

Grapefruit flesh is a very-low-risk matrix for heavy metals, and sourcing-level metal risk mitigation is not a high-priority concern for this commodity relative to more contaminated foods. For grapefruit-derived products that utilize rind or peel fractions, sourcing from orchards with low atmospheric metal burden (away from industrial sites and major roads) reduces surface deposition on the fruit exterior.

Agronomic levers

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

Processing levers

Thorough washing of the fruit exterior before juicing or zesting removes atmospherically deposited metals from the rind surface, preventing their transfer to juice or flavoring products. This is standard sanitation practice and also addresses microbiological hazards.

Formulation levers

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

Testing and QC levers

Routine heavy metal testing of fresh grapefruit flesh is not justified by the available occurrence data, which show all analytes below detection limits in a 27-sample TDS dataset fda2022-tds-elements-fy2018-fy2020. Testing resources for producers and users of grapefruit in food manufacturing are better directed at the higher-risk ingredients in the product formulation.

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

Under EU Regulation as updated in eu2023-contaminants-maximum-levels, the maximum level for Pb in citrus fruit is 0.10 mg/kg wet weight, and for Cd in citrus fruit it is 0.050 mg/kg wet weight. These limits apply to grapefruit as placed on the market in fresh form. Given the FDA TDS finding of all analytes at or below detection limits in 27 samples fda2022-tds-elements-fy2018-fy2020, grapefruit flesh is expected to present no compliance risk at these limits under typical production and supply chain conditions. There are no specific US FDA action levels for metals in fresh grapefruit.

Sources

Auto-generated from source-page frontmatter. The “Used on this page for” column is populated by the orchestrator’s POPULATE-SOURCE-LEGEND action; pending entries appear as *[awaiting synthesis]*.

Page history

The five most recent substantive edits to this page. The full version history lives in git; when DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.