Overview
This provisional ingredient page records source-specific measurements for hard candy. Its population contamination profile has not been synthesized. See Ingredients for the ingredient inventory.
Heavy metal contamination profile
| Analyte | Coverage | Typical (ppb) | Confidence | Key sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| lead (Pb) | pending | — | — | — |
| cadmium (Cd) | pending | — | — | — |
| inorganic arsenic (iAs) | pending | — | — | — |
| total arsenic (tAs) | pending | — | — | — |
| total mercury (tHg) | pending | — | — | — |
| nickel (Ni) | pending | — | — | — |
| aluminum (Al) | pending | — | — | — |
| chromium (Cr) | pending | — | — | — |
| tin (Sn) | pending | — | — | — |
| uranium (U) | pending | — | — | — |
The profile fields remain pending until an evidence synthesis supports a population estimate. Source observations are listed separately below.
Reported measurements
The population contamination profile on this page is unchanged. These notes do not set a typical value, an upper-tail value, or a certification limit.
Hard candy and lollipops
Ochu and colleagues, Sample B lollipops. The figure has no numerals. The results paragraph prints nickel 5.0 to 5.2 mg/g. Chromium was not detected. A range of 40.1 to 42.5 mg/g in that sentence has no metal name and is not assigned. No recovery statement. Evaluation of Some Heavy Metals in Imported Chocolate and Candies Sold in Nigeria
Tamayo-Ortiz and colleagues, lollipop rows only, lead in ppm. 2008 and 2018 are separate. Commercial names are omitted. One 2008 mean is 0.700 ppm (single sample). A 2018 mean on another row is 0.030 ppm (0.009 to 0.099). The discussion prints 0.1 ppm where the table prints a 2008 highest of 0.13 ppm. Lead Concentrations in Mexican Candy: A Follow-Up Report
Prattay and colleagues. Table 6 decimals did not survive text extraction and are not reconstructed. Discussion numerals for hard-candy codes: lead S10 is 2.40 μg/g; nickel includes 13.24 μg/g (S1) and 14.78 μg/g (S10). Heavy metals in candies, chocolates, and their wrappers in Bangladesh
Manousi and Zachariadis, fresh weight, chromium only. CS-1 is 0.29 ± 0.02 mg/kg. The table prints mg kg−1. Jellies are excluded. A chromium range that includes jellies is not used. Development and Validation of an ICP-AES Method for the Determination of Toxic and Nutrient Metals in Candies
Ibarra 2010 is a thesis. Its hard-candy lead means depend on a non-detect substitution, so no thesis mean is copied. An evaluation of lead in imported candies within Clark County, Nevada, USA
| Study | Design | Metal | Finding | Units and basis | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluation of Some Heavy Metals in Imported Chocolate and Candies Sold in Nigeria | Lollipop paragraph, not the figure | Nickel | 5.0 to 5.2 mg/g | mg/g as printed; no QA statement | sites, not a single n |
| Lead Concentrations in Mexican Candy: A Follow-Up Report | Lollipop rows, 2008 and 2018 separate | Lead | 0.700 ppm (2008, one sample) | ppm; wet or dry not stated | 1 in 2008 for that row |
| Heavy metals in candies, chocolates, and their wrappers in Bangladesh | Hard-candy code S10, discussion | Lead | 2.40 μg/g | μg/g | one code |
| Development and Validation of an ICP-AES Method for the Determination of Toxic and Nutrient Metals in Candies | Hard candy CS-1, fresh weight | Chromium | 0.29 ± 0.02 mg/kg | mg/kg; table prints mg kg−1; not hexavalent | one candy code |
Hard candy and gut studies of lead, nickel, and hexavalent chromium
Hard candy is an oral-contact food. The studies below are an infant tooth-lead cohort, an occupational nickel cohort, and a rat gavage that included nickel chloride and sodium dichromate. A confectioner should keep lead, nickel, and chromium species as chemistry fields. Oral dissolving of candy is not the exposure model in these papers.
Sitarik et al. 2020 measured tooth lead and stool microbiota at 1 month and 6 months in 146 maternal-child pairs in the Detroit-area WHEALS cohort. In utero tooth lead was associated with fungal community composition at 1 month. Lead was not associated with overall bacterial community structure. Taxon-level bacterial shifts were higher Collinsella at 1 month, higher Bilophila at 6 months, and lower Bacteroides. The direction is lead exposure toward microbiota composition. Tooth lead is a biomarker, not a concentration in this ingredient.
Yang et al. 2023 compared 109 occupationally nickel-exposed workers with matched controls. Serum nickel in the exposed group was 5.70 ± 3.21 µg/L, serum uric acid was 355.95 ± 67.87 µmol/L, and uric-acid-lowering bacteria, including Lactobacillus and related taxa, were lower. The direction is occupational nickel toward gut microbiota and then toward a host metabolite. Serum nickel is not a concentration in this ingredient.
Richardson et al. 2018, per WikiBiome source summary, DOI 10.1038/s41598-018-24931-w, gavaged Sprague-Dawley rats for 5 days with sodium arsenite, cadmium chloride, sodium dichromate, cobalt chloride, or nickel chloride, 5 rats per cohort. The note does not print the milligram doses. Observed OTUs and Shannon diversity were lower for arsenic, chromium, and nickel (p < 0.05). Differential genera numbered 37 for nickel, 17 for arsenic, 5 for cadmium, and 10 for chromium. Sodium dichromate is a hexavalent chromium salt, so the chromium arm is not a total-chromium result. The direction is short oral exposure toward the rat gut microbiota.
Study table
| Study | Model | Metal and dose | Main finding | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sitarik et al. 2020 | Human infants; tooth lead and stool; n = 146 | Lead; tooth biomarker, not a food dose | Fungal composition at 1 month shifted; overall bacterial structure did not | Not this ingredient |
| Yang et al. 2023 | Human workers; n = 109 | Serum nickel 5.70 ± 3.21 µg/L in the exposed group | Lower uric-acid-lowering bacteria; higher serum uric acid | Occupational exposure; not this ingredient |
| Richardson et al. 2018 | Rats; 5-day gavage; 5 per cohort | Arsenite, cadmium chloride, sodium dichromate, nickel chloride; doses not printed | Nickel changed 37 genera; hexavalent chromium changed 10; diversity fell for arsenic, chromium, and nickel | Per WikiBiome source summary; chromium arm is hexavalent |
What remains uncertain
The chromium arm is a hexavalent salt, and the gavage doses are not printed. Occupational serum nickel is not nickel in a candy matrix. No study cited here sampled saliva or stool after hard candy.
FDA TDS FY2018–FY2020 source observations
FDA measured the prepared foods named below. Each row describes that food and preparation, not every form of this ingredient. Values are µg/kg (ppb) on the FDA sample basis. ND means not detected; it is not a measured zero. Reporting limits can vary between composites. FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical Results
| FDA food and preparation | Analyte | Composites | Detected | Detected concentrations (ppb) | Reporting limits (ppb) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 293: Candy, hard | tAs | 3 | 3 | 11–15 | 3 |
| 293: Candy, hard | Cd | 3 | 0 | ND in all composites | 1 |
| 293: Candy, hard | Cr | 3 | 0 | ND in all composites | 50 |
| 293: Candy, hard | Pb | 3 | 0 | ND in all composites | 4 |
| 293: Candy, hard | tHg | 3 | 0 | ND in all composites | 1 |
| 293: Candy, hard | Ni | 3 | 0 | ND in all composites | 40 |
| 293: Candy, hard | U | 3 | 0 | ND in all composites | 1 |
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.
- Evaluation of Some Heavy Metals in Imported Chocolate and Candies Sold in NigeriaPeer-reviewed
- Lead Concentrations in Mexican Candy: A Follow-Up ReportPeer-reviewed
- Heavy metals in candies, chocolates, and their wrappers in BangladeshPeer-reviewed
- Development and Validation of an ICP-AES Method for the Determination of Toxic and Nutrient Metals in CandiesPeer-reviewed
- An evaluation of lead in imported candies within Clark County, Nevada, USAThesis
- Fetal and early postnatal lead exposure measured in teeth associates with infant gut microbiotaPeer-reviewed
- Nickel exposure induces gut microbiome disorder and serum uric acid elevationPeer-reviewed
- Exposure to toxic metals triggers unique responses from the rat gut microbiotaPeer-reviewed
- FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsDataset
Sources
Sources catalogued for this page. The last column says how each source is used here.
| # | Citation | Year | Type | Used on this page for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FDA 2022. FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical Results, FDA Total Diet Study | 2022 | Government dataset | US-FDA Pb, Cd, tAs, iAs, tHg, Ni, Cr, U, Sb occurrence in 3276 prepared food, beverage and water composites across 307 TDS foods, FY2018-FY2020 US collections (n=3276) |
Update history
No substantive edit history is available in this build. The full commit record is available in git.