Scope
Resolucion Numero 4506 de 2013 applies throughout Colombia to foods and raw materials for foods intended for human consumption. It establishes maximum contaminant levels to protect human health.
HMI records the Article 3 table rows for arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, and tin. Mycotoxins, 3-MCPD, acrylonitrile, melamine, vinyl chloride, radionuclides, and other non-metal contaminants are outside this regulatory metal-limit ingest. The rule states that fishery products must comply with Resolucion 776 de 2008 as modified by Resolucion 122 de 2012, so this page does not infer fishery-product metal rows from Resolucion 4506.
Exact limit and units
The source table states maximum levels as mg/kg, mg/L, or mg/kg peso fresco. The structured evidence register converts values to ug/kg; for water rows, HMI uses the conventional 1 mg/L = 1000 ug/kg approximation.
| Species | Matrix | Limit | Unit | Structured value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| total arsenic (tAs) | Natural mineral waters | 0.01 | mg/L | 10 ug/kg |
| total arsenic (tAs) | Food-grade salt | 0.5 | mg/kg | 500 ug/kg |
| total mercury (tHg) | Natural mineral waters | 0.001 | mg/kg | 1 ug/kg |
| total mercury (tHg) | Food-grade salt | 0.1 | mg/kg | 100 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Raw milk, heat-treated milk, and milk for dairy products | 0.020 | mg/kg fresh weight | 20 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Infant formula and follow-on formula | 0.020 | mg/kg | 20 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Meat of bovine, ovine, swine, and poultry, excluding fresh non-carcass meat, offal, and blood | 0.10 | mg/kg fresh weight | 100 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Fresh non-carcass meat, offal, and blood of bovine, ovine, swine, and poultry | 0.50 | mg/kg fresh weight | 500 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Green legumes, cereals, and dried legumes | 0.20 | mg/kg fresh weight | 200 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Vegetables excluding Brassica, leafy vegetables, fresh herbs, mushrooms, and seaweed; potatoes after peeling | 0.10 | mg/kg fresh weight | 100 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Brassica vegetables, leafy vegetables, and listed cultivated mushrooms | 0.30 | mg/kg fresh weight | 300 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Fruits excluding berries and small fruits | 0.10 | mg/kg fresh weight | 100 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Berries and small fruits | 0.20 | mg/kg fresh weight | 200 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Dairy fat | 0.10 | mg/kg fresh weight | 100 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Fruit juices, reconstituted concentrated fruit juices, and fruit nectars | 0.050 | mg/kg fresh weight | 50 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Mango hot sauce and canned mangoes | 1.0 | mg/kg | 1000 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Canned chestnuts and canned chestnut puree | 1.0 | mg/kg | 1000 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Pickled cucumbers | 1.0 | mg/kg | 1000 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Canned tropical fruits | 1.0 | mg/kg | 1000 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Canned fruit cocktail | 1.0 | mg/kg | 1000 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Table olives | 1.0 | mg/kg | 1000 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Canned strawberries, raspberries, and pineapple | 1.0 | mg/kg | 1000 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Natural mineral waters | 0.01 | mg/kg | 10 ug/kg |
| lead (Pb) | Food-grade salt | 2.0 | mg/kg | 2000 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Meat of bovine, ovine, swine, and poultry, excluding fresh non-carcass meat, offal, and blood | 0.050 | mg/kg fresh weight | 50 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Horse meat excluding fresh non-carcass meat, offal, and blood | 0.20 | mg/kg fresh weight | 200 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Liver of bovine, ovine, swine, poultry, and horses | 0.50 | mg/kg fresh weight | 500 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Kidneys of bovine, ovine, swine, poultry, and horses | 1.0 | mg/kg fresh weight | 1000 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Cereals excluding bran, germ, wheat, and rice | 0.10 | mg/kg fresh weight | 100 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Bran, germ, wheat, and rice | 0.20 | mg/kg fresh weight | 200 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Soybeans | 0.20 | mg/kg fresh weight | 200 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Vegetables and fruits excluding leafy vegetables, fresh herbs, Brassica leafy vegetables, mushrooms, young stems, root and tuber vegetables, and seaweed | 0.050 | mg/kg fresh weight | 50 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Young stems and root or tuber vegetables excluding celeriac; potatoes after peeling | 0.10 | mg/kg fresh weight | 100 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Leafy vegetables, fresh herbs, Brassica leafy vegetables, celeriac, and listed cultivated mushrooms | 0.20 | mg/kg fresh weight | 200 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Mushrooms excluding the listed cultivated mushrooms | 1.0 | mg/kg fresh weight | 1000 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Natural mineral waters | 0.003 | mg/kg | 3 ug/kg |
| cadmium (Cd) | Food-grade salt | 0.5 | mg/kg | 500 ug/kg |
| tin (Sn) | Canned foods other than beverages | 200 | mg/kg | 200000 ug/kg |
| tin (Sn) | Canned beverages, including fruit and vegetable juices | 100 | mg/kg fresh weight | 100000 ug/kg |
| tin (Sn) | Canned dietary foods for infants, including infant formula, except dehydrated and powdered products | 50 | mg/kg fresh weight | 50000 ug/kg |
| tin (Sn) | Cured and cooked bovine or swine meats packaged in tinplate | 200 | mg/kg fresh weight | 200000 ug/kg |
| tin (Sn) | Cured and cooked bovine or swine meats in contact with packaging other than tinplate | 50 | mg/kg fresh weight | 50000 ug/kg |
The arsenic and mercury headings do not specify inorganic arsenic, methylmercury, or total mercury. HMI therefore records arsenic as tAs and mercury as tHg under the bulk-ingest speciation rules.
Rows 12.14 and 12.15 in the cadmium section repeat natural mineral water and food-grade salt values that match the mercury water/salt rows, while rows 12.12 and 12.13 already set cadmium water/salt values. HMI records the duplicate/conflicting rows as a gap pending legal or errata review.
How tested
Article 5 assigns inspection, surveillance, and control to INVIMA and the territorial health directorates. Paragraph 2 states that laboratories used by the competent authorities must use appropriate methods and show that each selected method is fit for purpose and analytically valid, or use internationally recognized methods.
The source does not name a metal-specific analytical method in the metal table.
Enforcement posture
The resolution is mandatory for covered foods and food raw materials in Colombia. Article 5 assigns control to INVIMA and territorial health authorities, and Article 6 states that sanitary security measures and sanctions apply under Law 09 of 1979 or the rules that modify, add to, or replace it.
History of changes
Resolucion Numero 4506 was dated 30 October 2013. Article 8 states that it enters into force six months after publication. The extracted PDF does not show a separate official-gazette publication date, so HMI records 30 April 2014 as the effective date from the date printed on the resolution.
Article 7 states that the Ministry will review the established contaminant levels no later than five years after entry into force, or sooner if scientific evidence, technology, official-sampling results, internationally harmonized standards, or significant export rejection notifications make review necessary.
How it compares
This is a broad national food-contaminant schedule, similar in structure to Codex CXS 193 and EU contaminant regulations. Comparisons should preserve the Colombia table’s product groupings, basis qualifiers, and speciation: arsenic is recorded as total arsenic, mercury as total mercury, and tin as Sn under the register vocabulary.
The Colombia lead formula row is on a ready-to-consume basis under footnote 2, while several EU and UK formula lead rows distinguish powder and liquid products separately. The Colombia table also uses fresh-weight qualifiers for many meat, fruit, and vegetable rows, so comparisons should not silently mix those with dry-weight or product-powder rows.
Sources
Update history
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