Non-root Vegetable Purees
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.
| Dimension | Status | What’s there (auditable counts) | What’s missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Analyte coverage (tier: unset) | GAP | 3/10 HMTc analytes, total n=6 | only 3/10 analytes have evidence |
| D2 Regional coverage | below-tier | 0 jurisdictions | only 0 distinct jurisdiction(s) |
| D3 Anthropogenic evidence | GAP | no upstream/attribution sources | link a supply-chain/ hub page |
| D4 Background mechanism | GAP | section present, 0 drivers, 0 upstream source(s) | drivers[] empty; no upstream source to substantiate |
| D5 Pooling depth | THIN | Cd THIN, tAs THIN, tHg THIN | Cd: needs 1 more study(ies); tAs: needs 1 more study(ies); tHg: needs 1 more study(ies) |
| D6 Speciation | OK | iAs, tAs, tHg declared | — |
| D7 Basis declaration | GAP | 0/10 populated cells declare a basis token | 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, U |
| D8 Provenance integrity | GAP | 4 claims checked, 4 supported; 2 citations, 0 orphan, 2 foreign | 2 foreign citation(s) not naming non-root-vegetable-purees: fda-ctz-Pb-babyfood-2025, codex-cxs-193-1995 |
| D9 Mitigation | OK | 1 cited lever(s), 6 mitigation/ link(s) | — |
| D10 Regulatory coverage | OK | 2 rule link(s), 0 metal(s) covered | unmapped analytes: Cd, tAs, tHg |
| D11 Standards-readiness | NOT-READY | priority: Cd, tAs, tHg; pairing 0 paired, 3 single, 0 unpaired | Cd: THIN, needs 1 more study(ies); tAs: THIN, needs 1 more study(ies); tHg: THIN, needs 1 more study(ies); basis: 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, U; consumption tier unset (depth bar uncheckable) |
| Principle balance | flag | consumer-protection 0.50, contamination-reduction 1.00, brand-value 0.00, legal-defensibility 0.38, scale 0.25 | spread 1.00 — starved: brand-value |
This is a structural ingredient node for non-root vegetable puree inputs. Ingredient-level values belong here once parsed; finished-product values belong on non-root-vegetable-purees.
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.
| Analyte | Coverage | Typical (ppb) | p95 (ppb) | Confidence | Key sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pb | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Cd | n=2 | 0.016–1.5 | 1.51 | low | — |
| iAs | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| tAs | n=2 | 0–5 | 5 | low | — |
| tHg | n=2 | 0–1.5 | 1.5 | low | — |
| Ni | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Al | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Cr | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Sn | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| U | data gap | — | — | — | — |
Sources
No source pages are currently cited for this ingredient node.
Why this commodity accumulates heavy metals
Non-root vegetable purees is the aggregate ingredient label for infant-and-toddler purees made from non-root-vegetable bases including squash and pumpkin, green beans, leafy greens (spinach, peas), cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber, zucchini, and similar fruit-vegetables and aerial vegetables. Non-root vegetables sit at lower per-mass Pb than root vegetables because they do not grow in direct soil-contact, but leafy non-root vegetables (spinach, kale, peas) can carry elevated Cd via the leafy-vegetable accumulation pathway documented on leafy-greens.
The FDA Closer to Zero baby-food Pb action level differentiates non-root vegetable purees (10 ppb Pb) from root vegetable purees (20 ppb Pb) — the tighter limit on non-root reflects the lower baseline plus consumer expectation of lower contamination. The HMTc panel concerns for non-root vegetable purees are Cd (notably in leafy-green-containing formulations like spinach puree, green-pea puree), trace Pb, and trace iAs. Routes into non-root-vegetable-purees (Cat 1 row for infant non-root-vegetable products).
Ranges by source, region, and variety
Variance within non-root vegetable purees tracks the source-vegetable mix (squash-only vs spinach-only vs mixed-vegetable formulations), source-region soil profile, and processing tier. Squash and butternut purees sit at the lower end of the non-root vegetable Pb/Cd range. Leafy-green purees (spinach, kale, pea) sit at the higher end, particularly for Cd.
Processing effects
Non-root-vegetable puree manufacturing involves washing, cooking, pureeing, and packaging. Washing reduces surface-deposited Pb. Cooking does not reduce internalized metals (Cd in leafy tissue). Pureeing concentrates per-mass metals slightly via water-content reduction. Sterilization (retort processing for jarred and pouched products) does not affect metals.
Ingredient-derivative risk
Non-root vegetable purees route into the Cat 1 row non-root-vegetable-purees product family. Derivatives include single-vegetable purees (squash puree, spinach puree, green-bean puree) and mixed-vegetable purees. Mixed-meals products containing non-root vegetables alongside grains, proteins, or other ingredients dilute the per-product metal load.
Mitigation options
Sourcing levers (supply-chain-screening) include source-vegetable origin specification; supplier-soil verification programs (particularly for leafy-vegetable suppliers); greenhouse-and-hydroponic production specification where the matrix permits; and contractual Pb/Cd ceiling on incoming non-root vegetables.
Agronomic levers (agronomic) operate at the non-root-vegetable cultivation stage. Soil pH management; soil amendments; cultivar selection (low-Cd-accumulating spinach and pea cultivars are documented).
Processing levers (processing) include washing optimization for surface-Pb removal; processing-equipment material specification.
Formulation levers (formulation) include partial substitution of higher-Cd leafy-vegetable bases (spinach) with lower-Cd alternatives (squash, green beans) where the matrix permits; reducing the leafy-vegetable fraction in mixed-non-root-vegetable formulations.
Testing and QC levers (testing-and-qc) include lot-level Pb, Cd testing on finished non-root-vegetable purees against FDA Closer to Zero 10 ppb Pb action level for non-root vegetable purees (FDA 2025).
Packaging and storage levers (packaging-and-storage) include modern glass-jar, pouch, or aseptic-carton packaging.
Regulatory limits that apply
- eu-2023-915 — EU Reg. 2023/915 sets binding maximum levels for Pb and Cd in infant-and-young-child foods.
- FDA Closer to Zero baby-food Pb action level: 10 ppb for non-root vegetable purees (FDA 2025).
- Codex Alimentarius CXS 193-1995 (Codex 1995) sets infant-food category limits.
- California Prop 65 (california-prop65) Pb MADL applies to non-root-vegetable-puree products sold in California.
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.
| Commit | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| b0f3d38 | 2026-06-12 | batch | corpus rescreen b04 old terminal skips |