Overview
Step 0 scope-locked row for HMTc Taxonomy v2.0 Category 3 (Grains, Cereals, and Rice Products), Row 6. Created to give the broad breakfast-cereals declarations a routable destination (Check 3 backlog resolution). Scope locked (variant_type: whole_row_platform).
Literature scope
Reported measurements from source notes are below. Sections that are still empty have not been synthesized into a population estimate. HMTc certification thresholds for products in this row continue to be developed under the certification program at heavymetalcertified.com, not on this public page.
Evidence summary
Evidence summary
The table below summarizes what the peer-reviewed and government literature cited on this page reports for heavy-metal concentrations in rice-based product. Values are pulled directly from cited sources without re-aggregation. This page publishes literature evidence only, not certification thresholds.
Methodology rules for speciation, basis preservation, non-detect handling, and source pooling are stated in the Methodology section above and apply to every row below.
| Analyte | Subcategory | Reported concentration range | Detection rate | Applicable regulatory cap | Sources | Confidence | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| inorganic arsenic (iAs) | rice-based (no contributing evidence loaded) | No concentration data loaded for this analyte | Sample-level detection rate not reported | No applicable cap loaded | 0 | data gap | Basis not reported |
| total arsenic (tAs) | rice-based (no contributing evidence loaded) | No concentration data loaded for this analyte | Sample-level detection rate not reported | No applicable cap loaded | 0 | data gap | Basis not reported |
| cadmium (Cd) | rice-based (no contributing evidence loaded) | No concentration data loaded for this analyte | Sample-level detection rate not reported | No applicable cap loaded | 0 | data gap | Basis not reported |
Reported measurements
Food Standards Australia New Zealand, in the 25th Australian Total Diet Study, report the highest non-seafood total-arsenic mean, with non-detects set equal to the limit of reporting, as rice-based breakfast cereal at 0.26 mg/kg. The composites are prepared, as-consumed samples. Arsenic in this sentence is total arsenic. Dietary-exposure estimates in the same note are not cereal concentrations and are not repeated here. 25th Australian Total Diet Study
Rice breakfast cereal and arsenic studies that did not test the box
Rice breakfast cereal can carry arsenic from the grain. The gut records below are infant urinary total arsenic and arsenic in larval zebrafish water. Neither record is a stool result after this cereal, and neither names inorganic arsenic versus other species in a puffed or flaked rice lot.
Hoen et al. 2018 related urinary total arsenic at 6 weeks to stool microbiota in 204 infants in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study. Urinary total arsenic had median 0.4 µg/L and mean 0.63 µg/L. Feeding-stratified means were 0.5 µg/L in exclusively breastfed infants, 0.9 µg/L in mixed-fed infants, and 1.2 µg/L in formula-only infants. Overall composition was marginally associated with natural-log urinary arsenic after adjustment for feeding and urine specific gravity (pseudo-F 1.85, p = 0.05). The clearest association was in formula-fed males (n = 33, pseudo-F 2.30, p = 0.008). Formula-fed females (n = 23) did not show that association. The direction is an early-life arsenic biomarker toward infant gut microbiota. Urinary arsenic is not a concentration in this product.
Dahan et al. 2018, per WikiBiome source summary, DOI 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01323, exposed larval zebrafish to 10, 50, and 100 ppb arsenic in water for 20 days. Arsenic exposure explained 54.7 percent of the variance in overall bacterial composition. The class 1 integron relative copy number at the highest concentration was 9 times the control value. The note does not state whether the dissolved arsenic was inorganic or total, and it does not give the number of larvae. The direction is arsenic in water toward the larval microbiome. The model is not a human gut, and the summary does not support an arsenic concentration in food.
Study table
| Study | Model | Metal and dose | Main finding | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoen et al. 2018 | Human infants at 6 weeks; n = 204 | Urinary total arsenic; mean 0.63 µg/L | Composition associated with urinary arsenic; strongest in formula-fed males (n = 33) | Biomarker study; not a lot concentration |
| Dahan et al. 2018 | Larval zebrafish; water; 20 days | Arsenic; 10, 50, and 100 ppb; species not stated | 54.7 percent of composition variance; class 1 integron 9 times controls at the high dose | Per WikiBiome source summary; not a human gut and not this product |
What remains uncertain
Hoen and colleagues measured urinary total arsenic, with feeding strata of breast milk and formula, not rice cereal. Dahan and colleagues used larval zebrafish and did not state the arsenic species. No study cited here sequenced stool after rice breakfast cereal.
Methodology
Reports what cited sources say about heavy-metal concentrations in this row. Basis preserved.
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.
- 25th Australian Total Diet StudyGovernment
- Sex-specific associations of infants’ gut microbiome with arsenic exposurePeer-reviewed
- Exposure to arsenic alters the microbiome of larval zebrafishPeer-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.
| # | Citation | Year | Type | Used on this page for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ANSES 2026. Opinion of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety on the results of the Third French Total Diet Study (TDS3) - Acrylamide, aluminium, silver, cadmium, mercury and lead, ANSES Opinion, Request No 2019-SA-0010 | 2026 | Government report | FR Al, Ag, Cd, Pb, tHg, iHg, MeHg occurrence in French TDS3 foods selected from 276 foods across 44 groups, with 718 samples collected in Loiret, Puy-de-Dome, and… (n=718) |
| 2 | Hassan et al. 2025. Cornflakes as a source of dietary metal exposure in Lebanon: Risk assessment and regulatory compliance, RSC Advances | 2025 | Peer-reviewed | LB tAs, Cd, Cr, tHg, Pb occurrence in Commercial cornflake products sold in Lebanese retail markets (n=42) |
| 3 | Oduro et al. 2023. Health risks of potentially toxic metals in cereal-based breakfast meals in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana, Discover Food 3:25 | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | GH tAs, Cd, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb occurrence in 54 locally produced cereal-based breakfast meals obtained from Kumasi Metropolis markets in December 2021: 31 breakfast cereals, 20… (n=54) |
| 4 | Saraiva et al. 2021. Speciation analysis of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in bread and breakfast cereals using species-specific isotope dilution and HPLC-ICP-MS, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis | 2021 | Peer-reviewed | FR/DK/EU Cr, Cr-VI occurrence in 22 retail samples — 11 breads (Danish rye/rugbrød, malt flour, wheat ‘burger’ buns, spelt, wheat ‘pita’, wheat baguette,… (n=22) |
| 5 | Schaefer et al. 2020. Cadmium: Mitigation strategies to reduce dietary exposure, Journal of Food Science | 2020 | Review | US/EU/AU Cd occurrence in Review of global literature and FDA Total Diet Study 2014–2016 data for cadmium in food and mitigation interventions |
| 6 | Hernandez et al. 2019. Cr(VI) and Cr(III) in milk, dairy and cereal products and dietary exposure assessment, Food Additives & Contaminants Part B: Surveillance | 2019 | Peer-reviewed | FR/EU Cr-VI, Cr-III, Cr-total occurrence in Sixty-eight food samples representing the French population’s national milk, dairy, and cereal product consumption: 38 dairy products (8… (n=68) |
| 7 | Abebe et al. 2017. Assessment of essential and non-essential metals in popcorn and cornflake commercially available in Ethiopia, Chemistry International 3(3):268-276 | 2017 | Peer-reviewed | ET K, Na, Mg, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd occurrence in Popcorn from 5 shops in an Addis Ababa open market (~200 g each, pooled to ~1 kg, traditionally… (n=8) |
| 8 | EFSA 2015. Scientific Opinion on the risks to public health related to the presence of nickel in food and drinking water, EFSA Journal 2015;13(2):4002, 202 pp. | 2015 | Government report | EU Ni occurrence in 18,885 food samples and 25,700 drinking water samples (final dataset after exclusions) submitted to EFSA from 15 European… (n=18885) |
| 9 | Baxter et al. 2015. Total Diet Study of metals and other elements in food, Food and Environment Research Agency report for the UK Food Standards Agency, Fera report 15/06, project FS102081 | 2015 | Government report | GB Al, Sb, tAs, iAs, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mn, tHg, Mo, Ni, Pd, Pt, Sn, Tl, Zn occurrence in 3312 retail food samples from 24 UK locations, combined into 138 prepared-as-consumed food-category composites and 28 food-group composites (n=3312) |
| 10 | UK Committee on Toxicity 2013. Statement on the potential risks from aluminium in the infant diet, Committee on Toxicity (COT), Statement 2013/01, June 2013 | 2013 | Government report | UK Al occurrence in Synthesis of UK Drinking Water Inspectorate 2011 tap-water survey (n=42,400 England/Wales, n=1,730 Northern Ireland, n=5,020 Scotland); FSA 2006… |
| 11 | EFSA 2012. Cadmium dietary exposure in the European population, EFSA Journal 2012;10(1):2551 | 2012 | Government report | EU Cd occurrence in Cadmium occurrence results in food submitted to EFSA from 22 EU Member States, 3 European Economic Area or… (n=178541) |
| 12 | EFSA 2010. Scientific Opinion on Lead in Food, EFSA Journal 2010;8(4):1570 | 2010 | Government report | EU Pb occurrence in Aggregated EU occurrence data: 94,126 quantified analytical results across 14 Member States, Norway and three commercial operators (2003–2009),… (n=94126) |
| 13 | Committee on Toxicity of 2008. COT Statement on the 2006 UK Total Diet Study of Metals and Other Elements, Committee on Toxicity statement | 2008 | Government report | GB Al, Sb, tAs, iAs, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mn, tHg, Mo, Ni, Se, Sn, Tl, Zn occurrence in 2006 UK Total Diet Study: 119 food categories combined into 20 prepared-as-consumed food groups for metals and other… (n=20) |
| 14 | JECFA 2007. Evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants — Sixty-seventh report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, WHO Technical Report Series 940 (Sixty-seventh meeting of JECFA, Rome, 20-29 June 2006) | 2007 | Government report | international Al, MeHg, tHg occurrence in Aluminium: total dietary exposure derived from market-basket and duplicate-diet surveys in adults (France, Germany, UK, USA, China), Total… |
| 15 | EC 2004. Assessment of the dietary exposure to arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury of the population of the EU Member States, Reports on tasks for scientific cooperation, SCOOP Task 3.2.11 | 2004 | Government report | EU/BE/DK tAs, Cd, Pb, tHg occurrence in Occurrence, consumption, and intake submissions for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury from EU Member States and Norway under… |
| 16 | Committee on Toxicity of 2003. Statement on arsenic in food: results of the 1999 Total Diet Study, Committee on Toxicity statement | 2003 | Government report | GB tAs, iAs occurrence in 1999 UK Total Diet Study arsenic analysis: 119 food categories collected from 24 towns and combined into 20… (n=480) |
| 17 | Dabeka et al. 1995. Survey of Lead, Cadmium, Fluoride, Nickel, and Cobalt in Food Composites and Estimation of Dietary Intakes of These Elements by Canadians in 1986-1988, Journal of AOAC International | 1995 | Peer-reviewed | CA Pb, Cd, Ni, Co occurrence in Five Canadian total-diet composite groups, each with 113 composites and 39 composite subsets, prepared from foods purchased in… (n=760) |
Update history
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