Scope
NOM-186 applies to cacao, chocolate and similar products, and cocoa derivatives covered by the standard. The heavy-metal table appears in Informative Appendix A, while section 6.8 requires producers or manufacturers to control metals and metalloids in raw materials, in-process material, or finished product.
Exact limit and units
| Metal | Matrix | Limit | Unit | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenic | Cacao | 1.0 | mg/kg | product as sold |
| Arsenic | Chocolate and similar products | 0.5 | mg/kg | product as sold |
| Arsenic | Cocoa | 1.0 | mg/kg | product as sold |
| Arsenic | Cocoa butter | 0.5 | mg/kg | product as sold |
| Lead | Cacao | 1.0 | mg/kg | product as sold |
| Lead | Chocolate and similar products | 1.0 | mg/kg | product as sold |
| Lead | Cocoa | 1.0 | mg/kg | product as sold |
| Lead | Cocoa paste and/or cocoa cake | 1.0 | mg/kg | product as sold |
| Lead | Cocoa butter | 0.1 | mg/kg | product as sold |
| Lead | Cocoa and sugar mixtures, chocolate powder | 1.0 | mg/kg | product as sold |
How tested
Appendix A normative methods include atomic-absorption procedures for cadmium, arsenic, lead, tin, copper, iron, zinc, and mercury in foods and water. The structured rows load only arsenic and lead because Table A.1 states maximum contaminant levels only for those two metals.
Enforcement posture
The standard assigns sanitary-compliance surveillance to the Secretariat of Health and commercial-specification surveillance to the Secretariat of Economy and PROFECO. The appendix is labelled informative, so the CSV rows are recorded as guidance impurity limits rather than a general statutory food-contaminant schedule.
History of changes
The standard was signed in Mexico City on 26 December 2013 and entered into force 60 calendar days after publication in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, except the aflatoxin provision which had a 365-day compliance period.
How it compares
The table is narrower than omnibus contaminant schedules such as Codex CXS 193 or EU 2023/915. It covers only arsenic and lead for specified cacao and chocolate matrices and does not set cadmium or mercury product limits for chocolate.
Sources
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 | 1 source added; contamination-profile values revised; 7 sections added |