Overview
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) | Confidence | Key sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pb | n=2 | 0–13 | low | 1, 2 |
| Cd | data gap | — | — | — |
| iAs | n=1 | 7–24 | low | 1 |
| tAs | n=3 | 9–58 | medium | 1, 2, 3 |
| tHg | data gap | — | — | — |
| Ni | n=2 | 5–29 | low | 1, 2 |
| Al | n=1 | 176–758 | low | 1 |
| Cr | data gap | — | — | — |
| Sn | data gap | — | — | — |
| U | data gap | — | — | — |
Routing
This node is linked from Plant Milks (Almond, Oat, Coconut, Other Non-Soy/Non-Rice), Plant Milks, Rice-Based — RETIRED, Plant Milks, Soy-Based.
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.
Related Finished-Product Evidence
The promoted Category 5 plant-milk sources are finished-beverage evidence, not ingredient-only evidence:
- Trace Elements in Soy-Based Beverages: A Comprehensive Study of Total Content and In Vitro Bioaccessibility
- Inorganic Arsenic in Rice-Based Beverages: Occurrence in Products Available on the Italian Market and Dietary Exposure Assessment
- Essential and Non-essential Trace Elements in Milks and 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.
References
Works cited in this page’s text, in first-appearance order. This is not the full corpus for this page; it is only what the prose above draws on. The complete set of sources is listed under Sources below. Each title links to its source record, which carries the ingest receipt, the extracted values, and the file hash of the document it was built from.
- Trace Elements in Soy-Based Beverages: A Comprehensive Study of Total Content and In Vitro BioaccessibilityReview
- Inorganic Arsenic in Rice-Based Beverages: Occurrence in Products Available on the Italian Market and Dietary Exposure AssessmentReview
- Essential and Non-essential Trace Elements in Milks and Plant-Based DrinksReview
- Comparison of nutritional composition between plant-based drinks and cow’s milkReview
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 mitigation) operate at the source-plant production stage and are addressed at the relevant ingredient pages (Rice, Almond, Soy, Oat, Coconut).
Processing levers (Processing mitigation) 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 mitigation) 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 quality-control mitigation) 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 — Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and arsenic-speciation.
Packaging and storage levers (Packaging and storage mitigation) 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.
Update history
The five most recent substantive edits to this page, classified major (evidence or structure moved), correction (a published value or statement was wrong and has been fixed), or minor (narrative rewritten without changing the underlying evidence). Each description is derived from what the edit did to this page; the linked commit is the authoritative record, routine regeneration passes are excluded, and 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 | Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| a8052bb | 2026-08-09 | major | 4 sources added; contamination-profile values revised; 14 sections added |