Cadmium: the dose, not the presence
As audited on 2026-10-17, counted eaten alone, from zero: It takes about 1.6 kg of spinach a week, eaten alone, to reach the cadmium limit. It takes 113 g of Pacific oysters, less than one serving.
Checked against its sources, in English and French, on 2026-10-17, with data v0.2. The text is as audited; any figure that comes from the live database is recomputed when the page loads and must still match it.
Audited with data v0.2 and method v0.2. The site is now on data v0.6, method v0.4.
Still holds: The studies, surveys and limits it cites, and every figure bound to the live data: those are recomputed when the page loads and must still match, or this page would not show.
What has moved: Since 18 October the food pages count grams to a limit from the room left after an average adult’s intake, so their gram figures are smaller than this card’s, which count from zero. The card is as audited; see the correction of 18 October.
Almost every food carries some cadmium. The question is how much of it it takes to reach the limit.
| Food (one serving) | Cadmium per serving | Eaten alone, grams a week to reach the limit (≈ servings) | Eaten daily, adds to an average adult's intake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spinach, raw (85 g) | 9.2 µg | 1,620 g (≈ 19) | +52% |
| Pasta, cooked (215 g) † | 7.4 µg | 5,070 g (≈ 24) | +42% |
| Flaxseed, ground (15 g) † | 5.5 µg | 480 g (≈ 32) | +31% |
| Potato, baked with skin (110 g) | 3.7 µg | 5,150 g (≈ 47) | +21% |
| Kale, cooked (85 g) | 2.6 µg | 5,830 g (≈ 69) | +15% |
| Carrot, raw (85 g) | 1.6 µg | 9,560 g (≈ 113) | +9% |
| White rice, cooked (140 g) | 0.9 µg | 26,400 g (≈ 188) | +5% |
| Canned light tuna (55 g) | 0.9 µg | 11,300 g (≈ 205) | +5% |
| Whole milk (250 mL) | 0.04 µg | over 1,000 kg (≈ 4,000) | +0.2% |
Not yet reviewed by us (Canadian agency data, not ranked):
| Food (one serving) | Cadmium per serving | Eaten alone, grams a week to reach the limit (≈ servings) | Eaten daily, adds to an average adult's intake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific oysters, raw (125 g) | 193 µg | 113 g (less than one) | +1,092% ⚑ |
| Atlantic (American) oysters, raw (125 g) | 59 µg | 370 g (≈ 3) | +336% ⚑ |
| Blue mussels, raw (125 g) | 38 µg | 580 g (≈ 4.6) | +214% ⚑ |
| Sunflower seeds, shelled (30 g) | 11.4 µg | 460 g (≈ 15) | +65% |
- The limit is EFSA's tolerable weekly intake, 2.5 µg per kg of body weight: 175 µg a week for a 70 kg adult. Every gram figure assumes 70 kg; it scales with body weight. The limit is a long-term average, not a ceiling for one meal.
- Beside it, not subtracted: the average adult already takes in about 71% of that limit (EFSA's survey median for adults, 1.77 µg per kg a week), the largest shares from staples eaten in quantity (grains and grain products 27%, potatoes 13%). The grams above are what one food would take on its own.
- ⚑ "Weekly or less": eaten daily, these would at least double an average adult's intake, so our rule flags them for once a week or less. Everything else here adds less than that and carries no cap. No cap means "under our rule", not "harmless".
- Oyster species matters. In Canadian inspection data, Pacific oysters averaged about three times the cadmium of Atlantic (American) oysters.
- † Reviewed after dataset v0.2 was published.
- Data: Health Canada Total Diet Study, 2000–2018 (spinach, pasta, potato, carrot, rice, milk, sunflower seeds); US FDA Total Diet Study (kale); CFIA fish and shellfish testing, 2000–2021 (tuna, oysters, mussels); CFIA 2018–2019 survey (flaxseed). Grade A for the reviewed foods; B for the four not yet reviewed.
Foodtopsy · audit dated 2026-10-17, on dataset v0.2 and method v0.2 · sources and corrections: the receipt below · corrections · Information, not medical advice.
Where each number comes from
Where every figure on the card comes from.
Limit: EFSA CONTAM Panel 2011, Statement on tolerable weekly intake for cadmium, EFSA Journal 9(2):1975, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2011.1975 (abstract read at the EFSA Journal page 2026-10-17): "the current TWI for cadmium of 2.5 µg/kg b.w. was maintained" (set in EFSA 2009). × 70 kg = 175 µg a week.
Average adult: EFSA 2012, Cadmium dietary exposure in the European population, EFSA Journal 10(1):2551, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2551, Table 8 (a Wayback Machine copy of EFSA's own PDF, read 2026-10-17): 15 adult surveys, middle-bound means 1.50 to 2.23 µg/kg b.w. per week, median 1.77 = 71% of the TWI = 123.9 µg a week at 70 kg (method v0.2). The abstract: high levels "in algal formulations, cocoa-based products, crustaceans, edible offal, fungi, oilseeds, seaweeds and water molluscs"; potatoes (13.2%) and bread and rolls (11.7%) contributed the most to exposure.
Rule (because the average is at least half the limit): "weekly or less" when one serving a day would at least double the average adult's intake. Arithmetic: grams a week to the limit = 2.5 µg/kg × 70 kg ÷ concentration in µg/g = 175 ÷ µg/g (the headline figure); ≈ servings = grams ÷ serving; share of the limit = per serving ÷ 175 µg; daily addition = 7 × per serving ÷ 123.9 µg (all derived from concentrations).
Servings: Health Canada, Table of Reference Amounts for Food: V.1 vegetables 85 g; P.3 potatoes 110 g; C.8 pasta 215 g cooked; C.7 rice 140 g cooked; I.4 canned fish 55 g; D.11 milk 250 mL (263.1 g); I.3 fish and shellfish 125 g raw; O.1 nuts and seeds 30 g; C.5 milled flax 15 g.
Spinach, raw (85 g)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 107.8 µg/kg · 11 composites · 2005–2018 · Health Canada Total Diet Study, GG22 (cooked and raw spinach pooled)
- Per serving
- 9.2 µg
- Share of the limit
- 5.3%
- Daily, added to the average
- +52%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 1,620 g
- Rating
- no cap
- Grade
- A
Pasta, cooked (215 g) †
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 34.52 µg/kg · 16 composites, all detected · 2000–2018 · Health Canada TDS, FF16 'Pasta, plain'
- Per serving
- 7.42 µg
- Share of the limit
- 4.2%
- Daily, added to the average
- +42%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 5,070 g
- Rating
- no cap
- Grade
- A
Potato, baked with skin (110 g)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 34 µg/kg · 9 · 2007–2018 · Health Canada TDS, GG26
- Per serving
- 3.74 µg
- Share of the limit
- 2.1%
- Daily, added to the average
- +21%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 5,150 g
- Rating
- no cap
- Grade
- A
Kale, cooked (85 g)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 30 µg/kg · 6 · fiscal years 2018–2020 · FDA Total Diet Study, food 411 (pan-cooked)
- Per serving
- 2.6 µg
- Share of the limit
- 1.5%
- Daily, added to the average
- +15%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 5,830 g
- Rating
- no cap
- Grade
- A
Carrot, raw (85 g)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 18.3 µg/kg · 16 · 2000–2018 · Health Canada TDS, GG06
- Per serving
- 1.6 µg
- Share of the limit
- 0.9%
- Daily, added to the average
- +9%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 9,560 g
- Rating
- no cap
- Grade
- A
White rice, cooked (140 g)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 6.64 µg/kg · 16 · 2000–2018 · Health Canada TDS, FF19
- Per serving
- 0.93 µg
- Share of the limit
- 0.5%
- Daily, added to the average
- +5%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 26,400 g
- Rating
- no cap
- Grade
- A
Canned light tuna (55 g)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 15.5 µg/kg · 46 cans · 2004–2020 · CFIA fish metals
- Per serving
- 0.85 µg
- Share of the limit
- 0.5%
- Daily, added to the average
- +5%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 11,300 g
- Rating
- no cap
- Grade
- A
Whole milk (250 mL)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 0.163 µg/kg · 16 · 2000–2018 · Health Canada TDS, AA01
- Per serving
- 0.04 µg
- Share of the limit
- 0.02%
- Daily, added to the average
- +0.2%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 1,074 kg
- Rating
- no cap
- Grade
- A
Pacific oysters, raw (125 g)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 1.546 µg/g, mean of 65 sample means (meat or whole) · 2000–2018 · CFIA Mercury and Metals in Fish Products 2000–2021
- Per serving
- 193.3 µg
- Share of the limit
- 110%
- Daily, added to the average
- +1,092%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 113 g
- Rating
- weekly or less
- Grade
- B (not reviewed)
All oysters (all species)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 1.187 µg/g, mean of 226 sample means · same
- Per serving
- 148.4 µg
- Share of the limit
- 85%
- Daily, added to the average
- +838%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 147 g
- Rating
- weekly or less
- Grade
- B
Atlantic (American) oysters, raw (125 g)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 0.476 µg/g, mean of 64 sample means · same
- Per serving
- 59.5 µg
- Share of the limit
- 34%
- Daily, added to the average
- +336%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 368 g
- Rating
- weekly or less
- Grade
- B
Blue mussels, raw (125 g)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 0.303 µg/g, mean of 627 sample means · 2001–2020 · same
- Per serving
- 37.9 µg
- Share of the limit
- 22%
- Daily, added to the average
- +214%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 577 g
- Rating
- weekly or less
- Grade
- B
Sunflower seeds, shelled (30 g)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 381.6 µg/kg · 15 composites, none below detection · 2000–2018 · Health Canada TDS, JJ11
- Per serving
- 11.4 µg
- Share of the limit
- 6.5%
- Daily, added to the average
- +65%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 459 g
- Rating
- no cap
- Grade
- B
Flaxseed (15 g)
- Concentration · n · years · source
- 0.368 µg/g · 8 · 2018 · CFIA Pesticides and Metals in Selected Foods 2018–2019 (as sold, whole or milled not recorded; ground flaxseed, 15 g)
- Per serving
- 5.5 µg
- Share of the limit
- 3.2%
- Daily, added to the average
- +31%
- Grams a week to the limit
- 476 g
- Rating
- no cap
- Grade
- B
Notes on the shellfish rows:
- Every oyster figure counts each sample once (the mean of each sample's results), because one sample can carry several result rows and some rows are exact duplicates. The plain row mean for all oysters is 1.249–1.253 µg/g.
- CFIA's file doesn't say whether results are wet or dry weight; the values are used as reported. Non-detects are stored at the detection limit (3 of 343 oyster results), so the means are a slight upper bound.
- Canned and smoked oysters have no usable mean (one canned result, 7.59 µg/g; no smoked results).
- Pacific ÷ Atlantic = 1.546 ÷ 0.476 = 3.2.
Also checked, not on the face: a chocolate bar (40 g), Health Canada TDS JJ01, 15.8 µg/kg: 0.63 µg, 0.4% of the limit. Cocoa powder has no Canadian cadmium value (the CFIA cocoa survey measured lead only); EFSA 2012's European mean is 183 µg/kg (N 732): 0.9 µg per 5 g. Other reviewed foods with a cadmium row (57 in all) sit between spinach and milk; the dataset holds each.
Context, not scored: the CFIA 2018–2019 survey report (PDF, p. 6) names "potatoes, flaxseed and sunflower seeds" as commodities associated with higher cadmium because the plants take it up from soil, and found no health risk for the products it tested.