Plant milk base
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) | tier-unset | 5/10 HMTc analytes, total n=9 | consumption tier unset; depth bar uncheckable |
| D2 Regional coverage | OK | 6 jurisdictions, top US 33% | — |
| 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 | Pb THIN, iAs THIN, Ni THIN, Al THIN, tAs POOLABLE | Pb: needs 1 more study(ies); iAs: needs 2 more study(ies); Ni: needs 1 more study(ies); Al: needs 2 more study(ies) |
| D6 Speciation | OK | iAs, tHg, tAs declared | — |
| D7 Basis declaration | GAP | 0/10 populated cells declare a basis token | 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, tAs, U |
| D8 Provenance integrity | GAP | 2 claims checked, 2 supported; 4 citations, 0 orphan, 2 foreign | 2 foreign citation(s) not naming plant-milk: milani2023-trace-elements-soy-based-beverages, damato2026-inorganic-arsenic-rice-based-beverages |
| D9 Mitigation | GAP | 0 cited lever(s), 6 mitigation/ link(s) | section present but no source-cited lever |
| D10 Regulatory coverage | OK | 2 rule link(s), 0 metal(s) covered | unmapped analytes: Pb, iAs, Ni, Al, tAs |
| D11 Standards-readiness | NOT-READY | priority: Pb, iAs, Ni, Al, tAs; pairing 0 paired, 5 single, 0 unpaired | Pb: THIN, needs 1 more study(ies); iAs: THIN, needs 2 more study(ies); Ni: THIN, needs 1 more study(ies); Al: THIN, needs 2 more study(ies); basis: 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, tAs, U; consumption tier unset (depth bar uncheckable) |
| Principle balance | flag | consumer-protection 0.75, contamination-reduction 0.00, brand-value 0.00, legal-defensibility 0.50, scale 0.25 | spread 0.75 — starved: contamination-reduction |
This is a structural ingredient node created so product pages can link to a real wiki target. Occurrence values remain pending until a source is promoted for this ingredient.
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 | n=2 | 0–13 | 13 | low | 1, 2 |
| Cd | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| iAs | n=1 | 7–24 | 24 | low | 1 |
| tAs | n=3 | 9–58 | 58 | medium | 1, 2, 3 |
| tHg | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Ni | n=2 | 5–29 | 46 | low | 1, 2 |
| Al | n=1 | 176–758 | 1822 | low | 1 |
| Cr | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Sn | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| U | data gap | — | — | — | — |
Routing
This node is linked from plant-milks-non-soy-non-rice, plant-milks-rice-based, plant-milks-soy-based.
Contamination Profile State
The machine-readable contamination profile is pending. Ingredient-level values belong here once parsed; finished-product values belong on the relevant product-category page.
Related Finished-Product Evidence
The promoted Category 5 plant-milk sources are finished-beverage evidence, not ingredient-only evidence:
- milani2023-trace-elements-soy-based-beverages
- damato2026-inorganic-arsenic-rice-based-beverages
- marques2021-trace-elements-milks-plant-based-drinks
Do not copy their values into the machine-readable contamination_profile until an ingest confirms that a value is ingredient-only rather than a finished beverage matrix.
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]*.
| # | Citation | Year | Type | Used on this page for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Begday et al. 2026. Integral assessment of the environmental safety of plant-based milk alternatives based on heavy metal analysis, Izvestiya KGTU (KSTU News) | 2026 | Peer-reviewed | RU Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu occurrence in Eight plant-based milk samples assessed on the Russian market: four commercial ready-to-drink beverages (one each of almond, rice,… (n=8) |
| 2 | D’Amato et al. 2026. Inorganic Arsenic in Rice-Based Beverages: Occurrence in Products Available on the Italian Market and Dietary Exposure Assessment, Foods | 2026 | Peer-reviewed | Measured iAs and tAs in 25 rice-based beverages from the Italian market by HPLC-ICP-MS; primary occurrence data for iAs in rice-based plant milks with EU regulatory comparison |
| 3 | Good et al. 2026. Comparative exposure and risk assessment of heavy metals, nutrients, and organochlorine pesticides in cow and plant-based milks, Scientific Reports | 2026 | Peer-reviewed | US Cr, tAs, Cd, Pb occurrence in Twenty-two commercially available milk products purchased from major grocery retailers in Houston, Texas, USA. Eight milk-type categories: cow… (n=22) |
| 4 | Zvěřina et al. 2025. Essential and toxic elements in plant-based dairy alternatives: implications for vegan diets, European Food Research and Technology | 2025 | Peer-reviewed | CZ/EU Pb, Cd occurrence in Fifty-four plant-based dairy alternative (PBDA) samples sourced from the Czech market in Brno, Czech Republic. Composition: 35 milk… (n=54) |
| 5 | Milani et al. 2023. Trace Elements in Soy-Based Beverages: A Comprehensive Study of Total Content and In Vitro Bioaccessibility, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | Measured Al, tAs, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Sn in 18 soy-based beverages from Brazil; Al ranged 176–1,822 µg/L by soy-source type; bioaccessibility fractions reported |
| 6 | Redan et al. 2023. Analysis of Eight Types of Plant-based Milk Alternatives from the United States Market for Target Minerals and Trace Elements, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | US tAs, Cd, Pb occurrence in Eighty-five plant-based milk alternative product units from 19 brands purchased from 10 retail markets and an online retailer… (n=85) |
| 7 | Walther et al. 2022. Comparison of nutritional composition between plant-based drinks and cow’s milk, Frontiers in Nutrition | 2022 | Peer-reviewed | tAs in 27 Swiss commercial plant-based drinks across eight species (oat, soy, almond, rice, coconut, hemp, spelt, cashew) compared to cow milk |
| 8 | Marques et al. 2021. Essential and Non-essential Trace Elements in Milks and Plant-Based Drinks, Biological Trace Element Research | 2021 | Peer-reviewed | Measured Pb, tHg, Ni, and U in retail cow milk, soy, almond, rice, and oat drinks from Spain; Pb detected in three samples including one oat drink; Hg, U below detection |
Why this commodity accumulates heavy metals
Plant milks (oat, almond, soy, coconut, rice, pea, hemp, cashew, and other plant-protein-based beverages) inherit their heavy-metal load from the source plant. The dominant driver is therefore the source-plant species and the soil-region where it was grown. Soy-based plant milk carries elevated Al, Ni, and Cd because soybean is an Al/Ni/Cd-accumulator plant; rice-based plant milk carries elevated iAs and Cd because rice is the canonical iAs accumulator (see rice); oat-based plant milk typically carries the lowest baseline of the major plant-milk categories; almond-based plant milk inherits the almond Cd and Ni profile (see almond); coconut-based plant milk carries the low coconut baseline (see coconut).
The processing step (grinding, soaking, mixing with water, optional cooking, straining) does not change total plant-source metal load; it dilutes the per-mass metal concentration relative to the dry source plant by the water-mass ratio. Plant milks therefore typically carry 5-20× lower per-mass metal than the dry source plant, with the exact ratio depending on the manufacturer’s water-to-solids ratio.
Additional metal contributors: fortifying mineral additives (the vitamin-mineral premix used to make plant milks nutritionally comparable to cow milk), packaging (Tetra Pak aluminum-foil-lined cartons can contribute trace Al), and processing-water hardness (water-Pb varies by source municipality).
The HMTc panel concerns for plant milks vary by source: soy-based is Al/Ni-elevated; rice-based is iAs/Cd-elevated; almond-based is Ni/Cd-elevated; oat-based is generally low across the panel; coconut-based is low across the panel.
Ranges by source, region, and variety
The category “plant milk” spans substantially different metal profiles by source plant. The Cat 5 Step 0 lock therefore splits plant milk into three row categories: rice-based (highest iAs concern; per D’Amato 2026), soy-based (Al/Ni concern; per Milani 2023), and non-soy non-rice (oat, almond, coconut, pea, hemp; lower-baseline category). Marques 2021 characterized multiple plant-milk types in the same survey and supports the within-category split.
Within rice-based plant milk, the iAs range tracks the source rice’s iAs distribution (see rice). Within soy-based plant milk, the Al range is more variable than expected from source-soy alone, suggesting processing-water and packaging-contribution effects.
Walther 2022 specifically addresses arsenic in plant-based drinks and documents the iAs vs tAs partitioning across the major plant-milk categories.
Processing effects
Plant milk manufacturing follows a standard sequence: grinding the source plant, soaking in water, blending to extract solubles, optional cooking or pasteurization, straining (for filtered plant milks like oat and almond) or homogenization (for non-strained plant milks), fortification, packaging.
The dominant metal-affecting step is water dilution during blending: a 1-part-plant-to-10-parts-water ratio yields a finished plant milk with 10× lower per-mass metal than the source plant. Different manufacturers use different ratios (commercial almond milk is typically 2-5 percent almonds by mass, oat milk 7-15 percent oats), and the per-serving metal load reflects this ratio plus the per-source plant metal content.
Straining removes some particulate-bound metal in the spent grain; the filtered plant milk carries the soluble-fraction metals plus any colloidal-suspended metal. Non-strained plant milks (homogenized whole-plant blends) carry the total plant-source metal.
Fortification adds vitamin and mineral compounds. The mineral premix can contribute trace Pb and Cd at parts-per-billion levels; supplier specifications control this.
Heat treatment (UHT pasteurization, retort sterilization for canned/cartoned products) does not change metal content.
Packaging migration can contribute Al from foil-lined cartons (Tetra Pak, brick-pack formats) over multi-month shelf life. Plastic and HDPE bottles are generally lower for migration considerations.
Ingredient-derivative risk
Plant milk concentrates and powders carry per-mass metal at multiples of the as-fed liquid because water has been removed. Almond-milk powder, oat-milk concentrate, and similar concentrated forms inherit the plant-source metal load with concentration adjustments.
Plant-based yogurt, plant-based ice cream, and plant-based cheese inherit the source plant-milk profile with additional ingredient contributions. Plant-milk-based infant formulas (soy formula specifically per infant-formula-powder and infant-formula-powder-soy-based) are separately regulated under infant-formula compositional requirements and route to Cat 1.
Plant-protein isolates (soy protein isolate, pea protein isolate) sold as standalone ingredients or in protein powders carry concentrated per-mass metal content and route to Cat 16 row 20 when sold as dietary supplements.
Mitigation options
Sourcing levers (supply-chain-screening) are the dominant intervention. The single largest brand-side decision is the source-plant species (a brand can substantially reduce Al by formulating oat-based rather than soy-based; can reduce iAs by formulating non-rice-based rather than rice-based; can reduce Cd by sourcing low-Cd-origin almonds or low-Cd soy). Within a single source-plant species, geographic-segmented sourcing tracks the species-specific recommendations (low-Cd cocoa origins for cocoa milk; low-iAs rice for rice milk).
Agronomic levers (agronomic) operate at the source-plant production stage and are addressed at the relevant ingredient pages (rice, almond, soy, oat, coconut).
Processing levers (processing) include water-source specification (testing of plant-milk plant feed water for Pb and Cd), equipment-contact specification (food-grade processing equipment, food-contact-substance compliance), and water-to-plant ratio formulation (higher water dilution reduces per-serving metal).
Formulation levers (formulation) include species substitution (the largest single mitigation), water-to-plant ratio (commercial recipes vary 2-15 percent plant content), and fortification-source specification (mineral-premix supplier QC).
Testing and QC levers (testing-and-qc) include lot-level testing on finished plant milk against the applicable regulatory cap. Speciation testing (iAs/tAs split) is operationally required for rice-based plant milk targeting EU markets. See icp-ms and arsenic-speciation.
Packaging and storage levers (packaging-and-storage) include carton-foil specification (low-Al-migration foil grades) and shelf-life storage condition controls.
Regulatory limits that apply
- eu-2023-915 — EU Reg. 2023/915 sets specific iAs maximum levels for rice-based plant milk (30 ppb iAs); general beverage MLs apply for Pb and Cd.
- Codex Alimentarius does not maintain plant-milk-specific MLs; the general beverage and source-ingredient MLs apply.
- FDA does not maintain a binding action level for Pb, Cd, or iAs in plant milks specifically. FDA juice action levels for Pb apply to plant-milk products labeled or marketed as juices.
- California Prop 65 (california-prop65) Pb MADL applies to plant milks sold in California; serving-based screen governs.
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 |