Codex Alimentarius — Maximum Levels for Cadmium in Food
The Codex Alimentarius Commission establishes international maximum levels for contaminants in food, harmonized through the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (Codex CCCF17 2024). Codex MLs are voluntary international references; many national regulators adopt them directly, and the World Trade Organization cites them in trade disputes over food safety measures. Codex MLs are aligned to the JECFA health-based guidance value (the provisional tolerable monthly intake of 25 µg Cd/kg b.w./month, established at JECFA’s 73rd meeting in 2010 (JECFA 73rd 2010)) combined with feasibility considerations from CCCF and national competent authorities (Codex CCCF17 2024).
The matrix-level operative Codex cadmium MLs live in Codex Standard CXS 193-1995 (General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed) (Codex CXS 193-1995). This page records the cadmium-specific actions from the most recently ingested CCCF session (17th Session, April 2024 (Codex CCCF17 2024)) and the matrix-level ML table from CXS 193-1995.
Cadmium actions from CCCF17 (April 2024)
| Action | Commodity | Value | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New maximum level for cadmium | Quinoa (whole commodity, referencing CXS 333-2019) | 0.15 mg/kg | Forwarded to CAC47 (November 2024) for adoption | Codex CCCF17 2024 |
| New maximum level for lead (companion ML) | Quinoa (whole commodity) | 0.2 mg/kg | Forwarded to CAC47 for adoption | Codex CCCF17 2024 |
| New work initiated | Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Cadmium Contamination in Foods | n/a | Project document forwarded to CAC47 for approval | Codex CCCF17 2024 |
The quinoa cadmium ML was selected from three options considered by the Committee (0.10 mg/kg, 0.15 mg/kg, or no separate ML) on the rationale that 0.15 would produce the lowest rejection rates worldwide while still reflecting the ALARA principle (Codex CCCF17 2024). Quinoa is held separate from the general cereals category because it is classified as a pseudo-cereal rather than a cereal (Codex CCCF17 2024).
During the deliberation, a Member State delegation stated that cadmium MLs should be set under ALARA because “cereal grains as a group was a serious contributor to exposure to cadmium and in their region, the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) was exceeded for many consumers” (Codex CCCF17 2024). This reflects the EFSA rather than JECFA reference value, and is consistent with the synthesis observation that child and cereal-heavy subpopulations can approach or exceed the tighter of the major reference values.
New work: Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Cadmium Contamination in Foods
CCCF17 initiated new work on a broader Code of Practice extending the existing CXC 81-2022 (Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Cadmium Contamination in Cocoa Beans) to cover additional food commodities (Codex CCCF17 2024). An electronic working group chaired by the United States is developing the draft CoP for consideration at CCCF18. Commodity-specific annexes are contemplated for the following categories identified as significant contributors to cadmium exposure (Codex CCCF17 2024):
- Rice
- Cereals and cereal products
- Vegetables
- Fish
- Seafood
The commodity list aligns closely with the EFSA 2009 (EFSA Cd 2009) and JECFA 91st meeting (JECFA 91st 2022) identification of major dietary cadmium contributors, and will define industry-standard practice for cadmium mitigation across the supply chain. Whether the CoP includes commodity-specific annexes or remains at the general-principles level will depend on the detail of Member State submissions to the EWG.
Operative matrix-level Codex Cd MLs (CXS 193-1995)
The matrix-level Codex cadmium maximum levels, including MLs for rice (polished and husked), wheat grain, vegetables, leafy vegetables, edible offal (liver and kidney), bivalve molluscs, cephalopods, cocoa products, marine fish species, and other commodities, live in CXS 193-1995 and its amendments (Codex CXS 193-1995). That source is now in the corpus; matrix-level entries should be tabulated from there.
Relationship to the JECFA PTMI
Codex MLs are set by CCCF in a risk-management framework that uses the JECFA PTMI of 25 µg Cd/kg b.w./month as the health-based guidance value (JECFA 73rd 2010) and GEMS/Food occurrence data combined with rejection-rate analysis as the feasibility anchor (Codex CCCF17 2024). Matrix-specific MLs are the result of a negotiation between health protection and achievability; they do not translate directly to the PTMI but collectively contribute to keeping dietary cadmium intake within the PTMI across the range of regional diets.
Relationship to the existing CXC 81-2022 (Cocoa Beans CoP)
The existing Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Cadmium Contamination in Cocoa Beans (CXC 81-2022) is a finalized 2022 Codex text that informed the CCCF17 decision to initiate broader CoP work (Codex CCCF17 2024). The CoP is structured in four sections covering pre-planting practices (soil analysis, cover crops, plantation siting away from industrial contamination sources), production-to-harvest practices (soil characterization with at least 20 subsamples per hectare at 0–15 cm depth, Cd-immobilization strategies including liming at 3 t/ha/year as dolomite to raise soil pH above 6, zinc sulphate supplementation where soil zinc is deficient, biochar amendment at rates comparable to and additive with liming, vinasse application for mycorrhizal-fungus promotion, and avoidance of high-Cd phosphate fertilizers and apatite/rock phosphate), post-harvest practices (mucilage draining for 12, 24, or 36 hours; Saccharomyces cerevisiae inoculation during fermentation; drying on clean solid surfaces to less than 8 percent moisture content), and transport practices. The CoP supplies the operative agronomic, processing, and partial formulation mitigation specifics for cocoa cadmium and is the load-bearing primary source on the mitigation pages.
Comparison to EU, US, and national MLs
Pending ingest. EU cadmium MLs are established in Regulation (EU) 2023/915 (the consolidated EU contaminants regulation, successor to Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006); US CTZ cadmium action levels are anticipated in FDA’s forthcoming cadmium guidance under Closer to Zero; national MLs in China, Japan, and elsewhere vary. The cross-jurisdiction comparison table will populate as those documents are ingested.
Sources
- Codex CCCF17 2024 — Codex CCCF, April 2024. Report of the 17th Session (REP24/CF17).
- Codex CXS 193-1995 — General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed; matrix-level Codex Cd MLs.
- Codex CXC 81-2022 — Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Cadmium Contamination in Cocoa Beans, the precedent for the newly-initiated broader CoP work.