Pet-food contaminant maximum limits across six jurisdictions
Maximum limits for the high-frequency pet-food contaminants differ sharply by jurisdiction. Every figure below is a verbatim quote of the cited first-hand regulation (mg/kg unless noted; EU uses comma decimals — 0,3 = 0.3). Cells with no retrievable first-hand numeric limit are marked honest gap and are not fabricated.
Lead (Pb)
| Jurisdiction | Limit |
| --- | --- |
| 🇺🇸 US (FDA) | honest gap — no pet-food Pb maximum; above-limit Pb addressed as adulteration under FFDCA §402 |
| 🇪🇺 EU (Reg 574/2011) | 5 mg/kg (complete feed) |
| 🇨🇳 CN (宠物饲料卫生规定) | 5 mg/kg (pet compound feed) |
| 🇯🇵 JP (MAFF 成分規格) | 3 mg/kg (= 3 µg/g) |
| 🇰🇷 KR (사료관리법) | 10 mg/kg (10 ppm, pet/companion compound feed) |
| 🇧🇷 BR (MAPA 1.412/2025) | honest gap — Portaria covers only aflatoxins |
Cadmium (Cd)
| Jurisdiction | Limit |
| --- | --- |
| 🇺🇸 US | honest gap — no pet-food Cd maximum |
| 🇪🇺 EU | 2 mg/kg (complete feed for pet animals) |
| 🇨🇳 CN | 2 mg/kg |
| 🇯🇵 JP | 1 mg/kg (= 1 µg/g) |
| 🇰🇷 KR | honest gap — framework only |
| 🇧🇷 BR | honest gap — Portaria covers only aflatoxins |
Arsenic (As, total)
| Jurisdiction | Limit |
| --- | --- |
| 🇺🇸 US | honest gap — no pet-food As maximum |
| 🇪🇺 EU | 2 mg/kg (complete feed) |
| 🇨🇳 CN | 2 mg/kg (ordinary pet compound feed; ≤10 with aquatic/algae ingredients) |
| 🇯🇵 JP | honest gap — not in retrieved MAFF set |
| 🇰🇷 KR | 10 mg/kg (10 ppm, pet/companion compound feed) |
| 🇧🇷 BR | honest gap — Portaria covers only aflatoxins |
Mercury (Hg)
| Jurisdiction | Limit |
| --- | --- |
| 🇺🇸 US | honest gap — no pet-food Hg maximum |
| 🇪🇺 EU | 0.3 mg/kg (compound feed for dogs, cats and fur animals) |
| 🇨🇳 CN | 0.3 mg/kg |
| 🇯🇵 JP | honest gap — not in retrieved MAFF set |
| 🇰🇷 KR | honest gap — framework only |
| 🇧🇷 BR | honest gap — Portaria covers only aflatoxins |
Aflatoxin B1
| Jurisdiction | Limit |
| --- | --- |
| 🇺🇸 US (FDA CPG 683.100) | 20 ppb (= 0.02 mg/kg) total aflatoxins, pets of all ages |
| 🇪🇺 EU (Reg 574/2011) | 0.01 mg/kg (complementary and complete feed) |
| 🇨🇳 CN (宠物饲料卫生规定) | 10 µg/kg (= 0.01 mg/kg) |
| 🇯🇵 JP (MAFF 成分規格) | 0.02 mg/kg (= 20 µg/kg) |
| 🇰🇷 KR (사료관리법) | honest gap — framework only (별표 16 excerpt truncated after As row) |
| 🇧🇷 BR (MAPA 1.412/2025) | Aflatoxin B1 10 µg/kg and total aflatoxin 20 µg/kg (verbatim in Portuguese) |
What the gaps tell you
The US sets no numeric maximum for Pb, Cd, As or Hg in pet food — those are handled case-by-case as adulteration rather than against a published limit. Brazil's 2025 Portaria covers only aflatoxins, not heavy metals. The EU and China are the most complete on heavy metals; Korea fills Pb/As but leaves Cd/Hg as framework-only. The EU's melamine limit is 2.5 mg/kg (set by Reg (EU) 107/2013, CELEX 32013R0107 — not the sometimes-mis-cited 127/2013).
Sources
contaminant_matrix_petfood— the full Pb/Cd/As/Hg/Aflatoxin B1/Melamine × US/EU/CN/JP/KR/BR matrix, every cell a verbatim quote of the cited first-hand regulation; honest gaps (US heavy metals, BR non-aflatoxin) explicitly not fabricated; EU melamine 2.5 mg/kg from Reg (EU) 107/2013.