Scope
The heavy-metals table applies to fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, leguminous vegetables, vegetable oils, and related plant products handled and marketed in Panama. Nitrate rows are outside the HMI metal register.
Exact limit and units
The table expresses limits as ppm. HMI converts ppm to ug/kg by multiplying by 1000.
| Species | Matrix | Limit ppm | Structured value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pb | Fruits | 0.01 | 10 ug/kg |
| Pb | Small fruits, berries, and grapes | 0.2 | 200 ug/kg |
| Pb | Vegetables including peeled potatoes, except brassicas, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, hops, and herbs | 0.1 | 100 ug/kg |
| Pb | Brassicas except cabbage | 0.3 | 300 ug/kg |
| Pb | Leaf vegetables except spinach | 0.3 | 300 ug/kg |
| Pb | Cereal grains | 0.2 | 200 ug/kg |
| Pb | Dry legumes | 0.2 | 200 ug/kg |
| Pb | Leguminous vegetables | 0.2 | 200 ug/kg |
| Pb | Vegetable oils except cocoa butter | 0.1 | 100 ug/kg |
| Cd | Cereals, legumes, and leguminous vegetables | 0.01 | 10 ug/kg |
How tested
The table is part of a decree administered by the Ministerio de Salud. The excerpt does not name a heavy-metal analytical method.
Enforcement posture
Article Second states the decree is mandatory for natural and legal persons engaged in handling and marketing fruits and vegetables in Panama. Article Third assigns oversight to health authorities, and Article Fourth provides sanctions for noncompliance.
History of changes
The decree was given in Panama City on 7 November 2007 and published in Gaceta Oficial Digital No. 25932 on 4 December 2007.
How it compares
The Panama plant-product lead rows are narrower than broad food-contaminant tables because they focus on produce and grains; the cadmium entry is a single grouped row for cereals, legumes, and leguminous vegetables.
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 |