Foods due to heavy metal (toxic element) contamination

Why FDA issued it

NOTE: The revision of this Import Alert, dated 4/21/2025, updates the alert to include additional guidance on recommendations for articles subject to detention without physical examination under this import alert and updates on how petitions for removal from Import Alert should be received. Changes are bracketed by asterisks (***). Toxic elements, such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury, are found in certain foods. Toxic elements in foods can present a risk to human health; therefore, the FDA actively monitors the levels of toxic elements in the food supply and takes a systematic approach to reduce the risks posed by toxic elements, especially to vulnerable populations such as infants and children. FDA has established action levels for toxic elements in certain foods, such as infant rice cereal, and proposed action levels for toxic elements in other foods such as fruit juices, includ

Quoted from the “Reason for Alert” section of the FDA page for 99-42, mirrored 30 August 2026. The quotation is truncated at the length this copy carries.