USDA FAS 2023 - China GB 2762-2022 contaminants standard
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service GAIN Report CH2023-0040 provides an unofficial English translation of China’s GB 2762-2022 National Food Safety Standard for Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods. The standard was released by China’s National Health Commission and State Administration for Market Regulation on June 30, 2022 and entered into force on June 30, 2023, replacing GB 2762-2017. For the wiki, the source is a regulatory comparator rather than a concentration dataset: it gives matrix-specific Chinese maximum levels for lead, cadmium, mercury, methylmercury, arsenic, inorganic arsenic, tin, nickel, and chromium across foods, drinking water, and special dietary foods.
Key numbers
Standard identity and application:
| Parameter | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese standard translated | GB 2762-2022 | National Food Safety Standard for Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods |
| Release date reported by FAS | June 30, 2022 | Issued by NHC and SAMR |
| Effective date reported by FAS | June 30, 2023 | Replaces GB 2762-2017 |
| Scope | 13 contaminant classes | Includes Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Sn, Ni, Cr, nitrite/nitrate, benzo[a]pyrene, NDMA, PCBs, and 3-MCPD |
| Basis | Edible parts unless otherwise specified | Dried products use dehydration or concentration ratios where relevant |
| Infant/young-child liquid formula conversion | 8:1 | Used to convert liquid formula foods where stated |
Selected lead limits, as Pb:
| Food category | Limit |
|---|---|
| Grains and grain products, general | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Cereal, gluten, cereal porridge, and wheat/rice products with fillings | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Fresh vegetables, general | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Leafy vegetables | 0.3 mg/kg |
| Brassica, leguminous, ginger, and tuber vegetables | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Pickled vegetables | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Dried vegetables | 0.8 mg/kg |
| Fresh fruit, general | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Candied fruit | 0.8 mg/kg |
| Dried fruit | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Button/oyster/shiitake/honey mushrooms and products | 0.3 mg/kg |
| King bolete, matsutake, truffle, green-head mushroom, termite mushroom, chanterelle, lactarius and products | 1.0 mg/kg |
| Wood ear and silver mushroom products | 1.0 mg/kg dry-weight basis |
| Beans | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Bean products | 0.3 mg/kg |
| Soy milk | 0.05 mg/kg |
| Fresh algae, excluding spirulina | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Spirulina and spirulina products | 2.0 mg/kg dry-weight basis |
| Nuts and seeds, excluding coffee beans | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Raw and roasted coffee beans | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Meats, excluding viscera | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Livestock/poultry viscera | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Fish and crustaceans | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Bivalve shellfish | 1.5 mg/kg |
| Jellyfish products | 2.0 mg/kg |
| Raw, pasteurized, and sterilized milk | 0.02 mg/kg |
| Modified and fermented milk | 0.04 mg/kg |
| Egg and egg products | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Spices, excluding peppercorn/cassia bark/mixed spices | 1.5 mg/kg |
| Peppercorn, cassia bark/cinnamon, mixed spices | 3.0 mg/kg |
| Baked foods | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Packaged drinking water | 0.01 mg/L |
| Fruit/vegetable juice or pulp and beverages, general | 0.03 mg/kg |
| Grape juice | 0.04 mg/kg |
| Concentrated fruit/vegetable juice or pulp | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Cocoa products, chocolate and chocolate products, candies | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Formula food for infants and young children | 0.08 mg/kg powdered-product basis |
| Supplementary foods for infants and young children | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Tea and dried chrysanthemum | 5.0 mg/kg |
Cadmium limits, as Cd:
| Food category | Limit |
|---|---|
| Grains excluding paddy rice | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Milled grain products excluding brown rice and rice powder | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Paddy rice, brown rice, rice powder | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Fresh vegetables, general | 0.05 mg/kg |
| Leafy vegetables | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Leguminous/root/tuber/stem vegetables, excluding celery | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Celery and citron daylily | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Fresh fruits | 0.05 mg/kg |
| Fresh edible fungi, general | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Shiitake mushroom and products | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Morel, shingled hedgehog, green-head, chanterelle, honey mushroom and products | 0.6 mg/kg |
| Matsutake, king bolete, termite mushroom, lactarius and products | 1.0 mg/kg |
| Truffle, himematsutake and products | 2.0 mg/kg |
| Wood ear and silver mushroom products | 0.5 mg/kg dried basis |
| Beans | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Peanut | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Meat and meat products, excluding viscera | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Liver of livestock and poultry | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Kidney of livestock and poultry | 1.0 mg/kg |
| Fish | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Crustaceans excluding sea crab and mantis shrimp | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Sea crab and mantis shrimp | 3.0 mg/kg |
| Bivalves, gastropods, cephalopods, echinoderms | 2.0 mg/kg, viscera removed |
| Canned fish | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Other fish products | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Eggs and egg products | 0.05 mg/kg |
| Salt | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Fish condiment | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Packaged drinking water, excluding natural mineral water | 0.005 mg/L |
| Natural mineral water | 0.003 mg/L |
| Cereal-based complementary foods for infants and young children | 0.06 mg/kg |
Mercury limits:
| Food category | Limit | Species / basis |
|---|---|---|
| Aquatic animals and products, excluding carnivorous fish | 0.5 mg/kg | Methylmercury |
| Carnivorous fishes and products | 1.0 mg/kg | Methylmercury |
| Tuna and products | 1.2 mg/kg | Methylmercury |
| Alfonsino and products | 1.5 mg/kg | Methylmercury |
| Marlin and products | 1.7 mg/kg | Methylmercury |
| Shark and products | 1.6 mg/kg | Methylmercury |
| Paddy rice, brown rice, rice powder, corn, wheat and named flours/grits | 0.02 mg/kg | Total mercury |
| Fresh vegetables | 0.01 mg/kg | Total mercury |
| Edible fungi and products, excluding wood ear/silver mushroom | 0.1 mg/kg | Methylmercury |
| Wood ear and silver mushroom products | 0.1 mg/kg dry basis | Methylmercury |
| Meats | 0.05 mg/kg | Total mercury |
| Raw/pasteurized/sterilized/modified/fermented milk | 0.01 mg/kg | Total mercury |
| Fresh egg | 0.05 mg/kg | Total mercury |
| Salt | 0.1 mg/kg | Total mercury |
| Drinking natural mineral water | 0.001 mg/L | Total mercury |
| Canned complementary foods for infants and young children | 0.02 mg/kg | Total mercury |
Arsenic limits:
| Food category | Total arsenic limit | Inorganic arsenic limit |
|---|---|---|
| Grains excluding paddy rice | 0.5 mg/kg | - |
| Paddy rice | - | 0.35 mg/kg |
| Milled grain products excluding brown rice and rice powder | 0.5 mg/kg | - |
| Brown rice | - | 0.35 mg/kg |
| Rice powder | - | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Aquatic animals/products excluding fish and fish products | - | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Fish and fish products | - | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Fresh vegetables | 0.5 mg/kg | - |
| Edible fungi/products excluding matsutake, wood ear, and silver mushroom | - | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Matsutake mushroom and products | - | 0.8 mg/kg |
| Wood ear and silver mushroom products | - | 0.5 mg/kg dried basis |
| Meat and meat products | 0.5 mg/kg | - |
| Raw/pasteurized/sterilized/modified/fermented milk | 0.1 mg/kg | - |
| Milk powder and modified milk powder | 0.5 mg/kg | - |
| Fish oil and krill oil products | - | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Condiments excluding aquatic dressing, blended condiment, and spices | 0.5 mg/kg | - |
| Aquatic dressing excluding fish condiment | - | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Fish condiment | - | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Mixed condiment | - | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Packaged drinking water | 0.01 mg/L | - |
| Cocoa products, chocolate and chocolate products | 0.5 mg/kg | - |
| Cereal-based complementary foods for infants and young children, excluding algae-added products | - | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Cereal-based complementary foods with algae | - | 0.3 mg/kg |
| Canned complementary foods for infants and young children, excluding aquatic/animal-liver products | - | 0.1 mg/kg |
| Canned complementary foods from aquatic products and animal liver | - | 0.3 mg/kg |
| Sports nutritional food, solid/semi-solid/powder | 0.5 mg/kg | - |
| Sports nutritional food, liquid | 0.2 mg/kg | - |
Tin, nickel, and chromium limits:
| Analyte | Food category | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Tin, as Sn | Foods in tinplate containers, excluding beverages, infant/young-child formula, and complementary foods | 250 mg/kg |
| Tin, as Sn | Beverages in tinplate containers | 150 mg/kg |
| Tin, as Sn | Formula for infants/young children and complementary foods in tinplate containers | 50 mg/kg |
| Nickel, as Ni | Hydrogenated vegetable oil and products partly produced from or containing hydrogenated vegetable oil | 1.0 mg/kg |
| Chromium, as Cr | Grains | 1.0 mg/kg |
| Chromium, as Cr | Milled grain products | 1.0 mg/kg |
| Chromium, as Cr | Fresh vegetables | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Chromium, as Cr | Beans | 1.0 mg/kg |
| Chromium, as Cr | Meat and meat products | 1.0 mg/kg |
| Chromium, as Cr | Aquatic animals and products | 2.0 mg/kg |
| Chromium, as Cr | Raw/pasteurized/sterilized/modified/fermented milk | 0.3 mg/kg |
| Chromium, as Cr | Milk powder and modified milk powder | 2.0 mg/kg |
Testing methods named in the standard:
| Analyte / matrix | Test method reference |
|---|---|
| Pb, packaged drinking water | GB 8538 |
| Pb, other foods | GB 5009.12 |
| Cd, packaged drinking water | GB 8538 |
| Cd, other foods | GB 5009.15 |
| Hg, packaged natural mineral drinking water | GB 8538 |
| Hg, other foods | GB 5009.17 |
| As, packaged drinking water | GB 8538 |
| As, other foods | GB 5009.11 |
| Sn | GB 5009.16 |
| Ni | GB 5009.138 |
| Cr | GB 5009.123 |
Methods (brief)
This is a USDA FAS regulatory translation report, not a sampling study. FAS staff translated the final GB 2762-2022 standard and marked changes from GB 2762-2017 in red in the original report. The source defines the food categories, sets maximum contaminant limits by edible portion unless otherwise stated, and names the Chinese analytical methods used for compliance testing.
For species-specific routing, the standard distinguishes total mercury from methylmercury and total arsenic from inorganic arsenic. It instructs that for foods with methylmercury limits, total mercury may be tested first and methylmercury testing is unnecessary when total mercury is below the methylmercury limit; similarly, for foods with inorganic arsenic limits, total arsenic may be tested first and inorganic arsenic testing is required when total arsenic exceeds the inorganic limit.
Implications
Certification: This source is a China-market regulatory comparator, not an occurrence distribution. The limits are useful for checking whether a China-market food measurement is above or below GB 2762-2022, but they should not be treated as typical concentrations or as HMT&C thresholds. The values are matrix-, species-, and basis-specific; for example, mercury values switch between total Hg and methylmercury by food category, arsenic values switch between total As and inorganic As, and rice/powdered infant-food rows carry their own basis notes.
Courses: The standard is useful for teaching how an omnibus contaminant regulation handles broad food categories, edible-portion basis, dried-food conversion, species testing shortcuts, and special dietary foods. It is also a strong example of why total arsenic and inorganic arsenic, and total mercury and methylmercury, cannot be merged during evidence extraction.
App: Use this source only for China regulatory comparisons and import/export context. Consumer-facing comparisons should say “Chinese maximum level” or “GB 2762-2022 limit” rather than implying that these values describe measured market levels.
Wiki pages this source may touch
- china-gb-2762-2022-contaminants
- lead
- cadmium
- mercury-total
- mercury-methyl
- arsenic-total
- arsenic-inorganic
- tin
- nickel
- chromium
- rice
- wheat
- non-rice-grains
- vegetables
- leafy-vegetables
- root-vegetables
- fruit
- mushrooms
- beans
- peanuts
- meat
- organ-meats
- fish
- seafood
- shellfish
- milk-and-dairy
- eggs
- salt
- spices
- water
- chocolate
- cocoa
- tea
- rice-bulk-grain
- flour-non-rice
- cereal-products
- breakfast-cereals
- non-root-vegetables
- leafy-vegetables-other
- root-tuber-vegetables
- fresh-fruit
- wild-mushrooms
- canned-mushrooms
- legumes-pulses-other
- peanuts
- processed-meats
- seafood
- canned-seafood
- fish-marine-predatory
- fish-marine-non-predatory
- shellfish
- milk-and-dairy
- eggs-product
- salt
- spices
- fruit-juices-apple-containing
- fruit-juices-non-apple
- chocolate
- baby-cereals-dry-rice-based
- baby-cereals-dry-non-rice
- infant-formula-powder
- infant-food-general
- bottled-drinking-water
- mineral-water
Verification notes
The PDF was read from the June 3 manual-fetch folder, including the report front matter, translation foreword, scope/application sections, Tables 1-7 for Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Sn, Ni, and Cr, the species-testing notes for methylmercury and inorganic arsenic, testing-method lines, and Appendix A food-category definitions. Page count is 21. No DOI is assigned. The canonical raw file raw/Manual Fetch Kimi /June 3 Folder/China Releases the Standard for Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods_Beijing_China - People's Republic of_CH2023-0040.pdf and duplicate file raw/Manual Fetch Kimi /June 3 Folder/China Releases the Standard for Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods_Beijing_China - People's Republic of_CH2023-0040 2.pdf are byte-identical with SHA-256 c8bccdb20f30b3f6246b18167af26dab16b09cc639621e98c9c16294b76c10a7; the duplicate is recorded in the tracker as a duplicate rather than a second source.
Scope note: the report is an unofficial USDA FAS translation of a Chinese national food-safety standard. It is a regulatory source, not an official English legal text from NHC/SAMR and not a measurement dataset. The active regulation anchor in the wiki is china-gb-2762-2022-contaminants; this source page preserves the June 3 raw-PDF provenance and the translated values that can support future China-market comparisons.
Page history
The five most recent substantive edits to this page. 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.