المملكة: Lead and cadmium.. “Food and Drug Administration” tightens control over food safety

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority is seeking the opinions of specialists on the Gulf standard: maximum limits for heavy metal residues in foods, such as “lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, and tin (inorganic).
The standard stipulates that food that meets the maximum limits stipulated in this standard must not be mixed with food that exceeds these limits.
She stressed that it is not permissible to deliberately process food that contains the contaminants listed in this standard to get rid of them using chemical treatments.

Maximum limits

The maximum limit for lead residues in foods has been set, for example, “0.10” in root and tuber vegetables, fruits other than cranberries, currants, blueberries, strawberries, sweet corn, brassica vegetables, and stem vegetables.
The authority stipulated “0.30” as a maximum limit for lead residues in vegetable leaves, with the exception of fresh herbs, edible flowers, salsify, and the following cultivated fungi: common mushroom “Agaricus bisporus,” oyster mushroom “Pleurotus ostreatus,” and shiitake mushroom “Lentinula edodes.”
As for wild fungi, fresh ginger, and fresh turmeric, the ratio is “0.80,” and for spice seeds it is “0.90.”

She explained that the limits of cadmium in foodstuffs, agricultural commodities, or products of animal origin, in fruits, tropical roots, tubers, parsley roots, turnips, and garlic, should not exceed “0.50,” and in radishes, parsnips, salsify, nuts, citrus fruits, and apple fruits. , stone fruits, table olives, kiwi fruit, bananas, mango, papaya and pineapple for “0.20”.
The maximum limits for tin are allowed as follows: canned food (200 ml/kg), canned beverages (100 ml/kg), canned infant formula, canned baby food and canned cereal-based foods manufactured for infants and young children, canned food for special medical purposes intended for infants and young children. 50 ml/kg»
The maximum limits set forth in this standard (unless otherwise stated in this standard) apply to the food as it is placed on the market and to the edible portion of the food in question.