Statement on Establishment of A Provisional Health Based Guidance Value for Dietary Exposure to Cadmium in China.

The National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China and the State Administration for Market Regulation have issued the National Food Safety Standard (GB2762-2022), which delineates the maximum limits (ML) of contaminants in food. This standard will be implemented on June 30, 2023. It currently maintains the ML of cadmium in rice (including unhusked rice, husked rice, polished rice) at 0.2 mg/kg, a value first established 40 years ago in GBn238-1984. Considering the higher ML of 0.4 mg/kg outlined by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) and the lower limit of 0.15 mg/kg recommended by the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel), a review of the Chinese standard was deemed necessary. The primary objective was to determine whether the current provisional tolerable monthly intake (PTMI) of 25 μg/kg body weight (b.w.) for cadmium, as established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), remains appropriate for China. To reach our recommendation, we considered additional data on the dietary consumption patterns and corresponding biomarkers of exposure for the Chinese population. We also conducted an updated literature review and examined assessments performed by both JECFA and the EFSA CONTAM Panel. Based on these findings, we recommend maintaining the PTMI of cadmium exposure in China at 25 μg/kg b.w. This recommendation provides a scientific foundation for the newly issued ML of cadmium in rice.