What is the legal level of lead and arsenic that can be contained in
food products and processed foods in the United States?

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Clarification of Question by platzer-ga on 21 Jun 2002 08:51 PDT

I am trying to determine the levels of lead and arsenic that are
lawfully allowed to be contained in food products and processed foods.
 I am particularly interested to learn how lead and arsenic related to
garlic

Hello! Surprisingly, the answer to the question was rather easy to
find. Documenting the answer took me a few minutes though.

Okay, here we go. First of all, arsenic looks like it's only really
used in spirits to do something with discoloration. Regardless, the
limit for both lead and arsenic in food is "2 parts per million
Maximum".

This comes from the FDA's Title 21 "Food and Drugs" Code of Federal
Regulation. It is section 21CFR173.60 (4) and (5) respectively. The
link below has the words "Arsenic" (yellow) "limits" (light blue)
"prepared" (green) and "food" (red) to help you find other areas you
might be interested in.

http://fdagov.google.com/fdagov?client=fdagov&q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eaccessdata%2Efda%2Egov%2Fscripts%2Fcdrh%2Fcfdocs%2FcfPCD%2FshowCFR%2Ecfm%3FCFRPart%3D173%26showFR%3D1+arsenic%20limits%20prepared%20food

If you load that page in your browser and hit "ctrl+f" (find on this
page) and search for "21CFR173.60" (no quotes) it'll bring you down to
the right chapter. From there scroll down another couple of pages and
look for the first instance of  the word "Arsenic" (in bright yellow)
on the page. Both of your answers are right there.

You can download the entire document for future reference in PDF
format here:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfPCD/showCFR.cfm?CFRPart=173&showFR=1

This document is from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) so you
won't need any more verification than that.

Take care, and I hope this is for reference and not because you think
you might have eaten something that didn't comply!

Stock Truslow
webstock-ga

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Clarification of Answer by webstock-ga on 21 Jun 2002 11:28 PDT

Oh - and in regards to garlic - "Garlic Breath" is a common symptom of
arsenic poisoning and garlic is thought to aid in treating lead
poisoning by enhancing the excretion of lead in the urine. There are
no federal regulations that contain any mention of a relationship
between garlic and either of the two.

The link given by webstock concerns regulations concerning food
additives.

In addition, there are: 

1.FDA regulations on the maximum levels of arsenic in meat:
21 CFR 556.60 (4/1/2001): "Tolerances for total residues of combined
arsenic (calculated as As) in food are established as follows: (a) In
edible tissues & in eggs of chickens & turkeys: 0.5 ppm in uncooked
muscle tissue; 2 ppm in uncooked edible by-products; & 0.5 ppm in
eggs. (b) In edible tissues of swine: 2 ppm in uncooked liver &
kidney; 0.5 ppm in uncooked muscle tissue & by-products other than
liver & kidney."

2. Guidance Document for Arsenic in Shellfish
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/guid-as.html

3.  With respect to lead: "lead was banned from house paint in 1978.
U.S. food canners quit using lead solder in 1991. And a 25-year
phaseout of lead in gasoline reached its goal in 1995... ...FDA's
1994-1996 Total Diet Studies showed that, since 1982-1984, daily
intakes of lead from food dropped 96 percent in 2- to 5-year-olds
(from 30 micrograms a day to 1.3) and nearly 93 percent in adults
(from 38 micrograms a day to 2.5)... ...FDA has established maximum
levels for leachable lead in ceramicware, and pieces that exceed these
levels are subject to recall or other agency enforcement action. The
levels are based on how frequently a piece of ceramicware is used, the
type and temperature of the food it holds, and how long the food stays
in contact with the piece. For example, cups, mugs and pitchers have
the most stringent action level, 0.5 parts per million, because they
can be expected to hold food longer, allowing more time for lead to
leach. Also, a pitcher may be used to hold fruit juice. And a coffee
mug is generally used every day to hold a hot acidic beverage, often
several times a day... ...  (Dangers of Lead Still Linger,
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdalead.html)

4. FDA also has banned lead solders in metal food cans and tin-coated
lead foil capsules for wine bottles. In addition, FDA continues to
identify controllable sources of dietary lead in food additives and
food.

5. Guidance Document for Lead in Shellfish
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/guid-pb.html

With respect to garlic, the levels it contains of lead and arsenic
will depend on levels in the soil and atmosphere where it is grown.  A
case was reported by the BBC in the UK of two garlic capsule
preparations which were found to contain approx. 2mg/kg arsenic
(Arsenic and insects in supplements, BBC News, January 19, 1999:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_258000/258180.stm )