FDA Cadmium Limits for Baby Food: 10 to 45 ppb Proposed

TL;DR

On October 22, 2026, FDA announced draft, nonbinding action levels for cadmium in processed food intended for babies and young children, ranging from 10 ppb to 45 ppb depending on food category. The announcement is part of the agency's Closer to Zero initiative. Comments are due December 22, 2026. The levels are a draft and are not final.

Key takeaways

• On October 22, 2026, FDA announced draft cadmium action levels for processed food for babies and young children under Closer to Zero. The Federal Register notice was published October 23, 2026 (FR Doc. 2026-21670).
• Proposed levels are 10 ppb for fruits, vegetables (excluding single-ingredient carrots) and mixtures; 25 ppb for single-ingredient carrots and single-ingredient meats; 45 ppb for dry infant cereals; and 20 ppb for yogurts, puddings and custards.
• The scope excludes infant formula, all beverages including toddler drinks, raw agricultural commodities, homemade foods, and snack foods including grain-based or freeze-dried snacks.
• FDA says the levels are not intended to direct consumers into making food choices. Its estimates show the 10 ppb level would cut 90th-percentile exposure by 28%, and FDA estimates that 93% of samples already meet that level. The yogurt and meat levels would produce no exposure reduction.
• Comments are due December 22, 2026 (docket FDA-2025-D-4023). The January 21, 2027 date on the guidance page belongs to a separate preventive-controls draft on chemical hazards (docket FDA-2016-D-2343), not to the cadmium draft.

What happened

FDA announced draft action levels on October 22, 2026, for cadmium in processed food intended for babies and young children. The agency announced them alongside draft preventive-controls guidance on chemical hazards and a webinar scheduled for November 16, 2026, according to an FDA constituent update.

The Federal Register published the cadmium draft guidance notice on October 23, 2026, under FR Doc. 2026-21670. The notice opened the public comment process for the cadmium document, which FDA has assigned docket FDA-2025-D-4023.

What changed

FDA's draft guidance proposes cadmium action levels for processed food intended for babies and young children. Rather than a single number for all baby food, FDA is proposing numeric levels that would apply to specific product categories.

An action level is a concentration at which FDA may regard a food as adulterated under 21 CFR 109.4(c). The draft is nonbinding guidance, not a binding limit on manufacturers. What the draft does is give industry and the public a proposed benchmark: concentrations at which FDA may regard a food as adulterated.

Cadmium has a human half-life of roughly 10 to 33 years. FDA says low-level chronic dietary exposure can lead to adverse effects on bones and kidneys, which is the reason the agency gives for focusing on cumulative dietary intake rather than one-time exposure.

How much cadmium is allowed in baby food?

FDA proposed draft action levels of 10 ppb for fruits, vegetables (excluding single-ingredient carrots) and mixtures, including grain- and meat-based mixtures. The levels for other categories are 25 ppb for single-ingredient carrots and single-ingredient meats, 45 ppb for dry infant cereals, and 20 ppb for yogurts, puddings and custards. These are proposed concentrations, not limits that apply to a product on the shelf today.

Is there cadmium in baby food?

FDA's data show that cadmium was found in several categories it sampled. Dry infant cereals had a mean of 15.0 ppb, with a 90th to 95th percentile range of 29.8 to 39.9 ppb. Single-ingredient carrots had a mean of 12.7 ppb, with a 90th to 95th percentile range of 30.5 to 37.7 ppb. Vegetables without carrots averaged 4.4 ppb, mixtures 4.2 ppb, fruits 1.0 ppb, yogurts, puddings and custards 0.9 ppb, and single-ingredient meats 0.5 ppb. These are means and percentiles from FDA's data, not measurements of any specific brand.

Why are carrots high in cadmium in baby food?

FDA's data show single-ingredient carrots averaging 12.7 ppb, against a proposed 25 ppb level. Carrots are the only single vegetable the draft gives its own category; the article does not go beyond FDA's numbers to explain why their levels run higher.

Does the cadmium draft cover infant rice cereal?

The draft sets a 45 ppb level for dry infant cereals; FDA did not separately address rice cereal by name. The dry infant cereal category is therefore the closest reference point in the draft.

Who is affected

The draft defines "babies and young children" as children less than two years old. Within that group, it covers processed food, which is the category the levels are written for.

The draft does not cover raw agricultural commodities or homemade foods. It does not apply to infant formula or to any beverages, including toddler drinks.

Does the cadmium limit apply to baby snacks or puffs?

Snack foods, including grain-based and freeze-dried snacks, are excluded from the draft. FDA says it is still collecting data on grain-based snacks. The draft does not say how pouches, puffs or teethers would be classified beyond that exclusion, so readers should not assume a product is in or out of scope based on its format alone.

What it means for shoppers

FDA states that the levels "are not intended to direct consumers into making food choices." The agency recommends a varied, nutrient-dense diet. For a parent or caregiver, the proposed levels are regulatory benchmarks for manufacturers and regulators, not a shopping guide that lists safe or unsafe brands.

The guidance does not name any brand or product that exceeds the proposed levels. FDA has not disclosed whether it will test or recall products against these draft levels before the guidance is finalized, so the document cannot tell a shopper whether a specific jar, box or pouch is affected.

A practical step is to read the Nutrition Facts panel and ingredient list, which show what is in a product and how it is made. The Nutrition Facts panel does not list cadmium, so it cannot confirm whether a product meets the proposed levels.

If you want to understand how the ingredients in a packaged food are described, the Aurascan food-label scanner explains each ingredient one at a time with cited evidence. It does not give a single numeric score, and it works from product data drawn from Open Food Facts, USDA and barcode databases.

Some states already require baby food makers to test for heavy metals and disclose results; see Baby Food Heavy-Metal Test Results Are Now on the Label.

The background

FDA's cadmium proposal sits within Closer to Zero, the agency's effort to reduce childhood exposure to heavy metals in foods. According to FDA's Closer to Zero page, the agency finalized guidance on lead in baby food in January 2025. It has targeted finalizing guidance on lead in juices in 2027, and it has targeted a draft on inorganic arsenic in baby food for 2027.

FDA's estimates of the proposed levels show different effects by category. The 10 ppb level would cut 90th-percentile cadmium exposure by 28%, and FDA estimates that 93% of samples already meet it. The 25 ppb level for carrots would cut exposure by 32%, with 84% of samples already compliant. The 45 ppb level for infant cereal would cut exposure by 5%, with 98% of samples already compliant. For yogurt, pudding and custard, and for meat, FDA says the levels are 100% achievable and produce no exposure reduction, but are set to keep levels health-protective.

For research on cadmium in young children's diets outside the U.S., see Toddler Diets and Toxic Metals: What a Swedish Study Found.

What to watch next

Is the FDA cadmium limit for baby food final?

No. The cadmium levels are a draft, and FDA describes the document as draft, non-binding and "not for implementation." FDA has not said when the guidance will be finalized, so that timing is not disclosed.

The key date for the cadmium draft is December 22, 2026, when the comment period closes. The docket is FDA-2025-D-4023, and the Federal Register notice is FR Doc. 2026-21670.

FDA's webinar on the broader announcement is scheduled for November 16, 2026, according to the constituent update. The guidance landing page also shows a January 21, 2027 comment date. That date belongs to the separate preventive-controls draft on chemical hazards (docket FDA-2016-D-2343), not the cadmium draft.

FDA has not said whether it will test or recall products against the draft levels before the guidance is final. That question remains open.

Limitations: the evidence cannot establish how an individual child will respond to any given cadmium concentration, and FDA has not stated a safe or unsafe threshold for infants at specific ppb levels. The data also cannot speak to every product category, especially snacks and formats FDA has excluded or not yet studied.

If you want to check the ingredients in a product you already buy, you can scan it with the Aurascan food-label scanner for iPhone. It has a free tier, and it explains each ingredient one at a time with cited evidence, so you can read the reasoning yourself.

Related reading: Great Value Fruit Cocktail Recall: Lead in Walmart Cans and, for mercury and soy in canned fish, StarKist vs Bumble Bee Tuna.