Dr. Umar Aitsaam

Apples can contain trace heavy metals from soil, air, and processing, but levels are typically very low and regulated. This page summarizes evidence for lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, nickel, tin, aluminum, and chromium across fresh apples and common apple products, with practical exposure-reduction tips.

Chronic dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic in Europe is highest in infants and young children, with high consumers sometimes reaching EFSA reference-point ranges. Rice, rice-based foods, other grains, and drinking water drive exposure, while left-censored data handling strongly affects estimates.

CDPH’s Baby Food Safety guidance frames baby food heavy metal testing through child health risk, California AB 899 monthly testing and 2025 disclosure rules, and FDA lead action levels (10–20 ppb). It also highlights higher-risk product categories to prioritize in certification sampling.

Chromium supplement safety hinges on chromium form, dose, and context. Evidence for benefit is modest and inconsistent, while pharmacologic dosing, drug interactions, and rare adverse reports justify stringent speciation, labeling verification, and impurity testing in HMTC certification.

This regulation sets enforceable nickel maximum levels in food across many categories, defines how results must be expressed (wet weight, dry matter, as-sold), and phases implementation. For HMTC, it offers a blueprint for test specifications, supplier controls, and child-focused risk reduction.

chromium-content-in-plant-foods found generally low chromium in plant foods and beverages but with substantial commodity, regional, and within-category variability; wheat, strawberries, and cucumbers were highest on average, while juices were typically nondetect, highlighting the need for validated methods and batch-based certification rules.

This systematic review/meta-analysis found substantial EFSA MRL exceedances in apples and derivatives, with heavy metals showing frequent noncompliance and major regulatory gaps for apple products. Findings support stricter, matrix-specific certification rules and risk-based sourcing controls for HMTC.

This market survey quantified aluminium across 1,431 plant-based foods and beverages, finding most samples low but a small high-concentration tail driven by cocoa products, certain premixes with aluminium salts, and avoidable contact-surface migration in salty baked goods—key targets for certification controls.

FDA’s action levels for lead in juice propose 10 ppb for apple juice and 20 ppb for other juices, aiming to lower children’s dietary lead exposure and guide HACCP-focused prevention, adulteration evaluation, and enforcement discretion.

This study found that in Michigan orchards with near-background soils, apple trees acted as “excluders” for Pb and As. Juice As was <1 µg/kg, and Pb was low, with Pb tending to partition into juice while As favored pomace.