French Authorities Warn Against Cadmium Risk in Pasta, Bread, and Cereals

France's national food and health safety agency ANSES has issued an urgent advisory calling for reduced consumption of pasta, bread, and cereals after its latest Total Diet Study, EAT3, confirmed that cadmium levels in those staples pose a genuine risk to public health, particularly for children.

The study by ANSES found that cadmium, aluminium, and mercury pose health risks, while lead and acrylamide also raise concerns. For pasta eaters and home cooks who rely on wheat-based staples as a dietary foundation, the findings are hard to dismiss: between 23 and 27 percent of children over the age of three exceeded the tolerable daily intake for cadmium.

The main food groups contributing to cadmium exposure in EAT3 were potatoes, vegetables, and wheat-based products such as bread, pasta, pastries, cakes, and biscuits. Increases in cadmium concentration were observed in cereal-based products such as bread, sweet biscuits, pastries, and pasta.

The metal does not flush out easily. Cadmium accumulates in the human body with a biological half-life of 20 to 30 years, and has been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, meaning it is known to cause cancer in humans. It has been linked to pancreatic, lung, prostate, and kidney cancers, as well as heart diseases, fertility problems, kidney damage, neurological issues, and bone disorders.

The contamination trail leads back to the field, not the kitchen. Staple crops absorb cadmium from phosphate fertilisers used in conventional agriculture, particularly fertilisers derived from Moroccan phosphate rock. Those fertilisers can contain cadmium levels up to 507 mg/kg, according to scientific analyses cited in reports by ANSES and the European Commission.

France's exposure figures are striking in a European context. French adults are exposed to three times as much cadmium as adults in Germany and twice that of Italians, while children in France face cadmium exposure four times greater than American or Italian children. A study by URPS-Médecins libéraux found cadmium present in all 41 types of bread tested.

France is the EU's leading consumer of phosphate fertiliser and has not moved to bring cadmium limits down further, despite researchers saying the EU's 60 mg/kg cap is not enough. ANSES has pushed for a stricter national threshold: the agency recommended lowering cadmium limits to 20 milligrams per kilogram in phosphate mineral fertilizers. Even if those guidelines are adopted, it may take decades to stabilize cadmium levels.

On the legislative side, a proposed law seeks to prohibit the use of fertilizers containing cadmium, championed by ecologist deputy Benoît Biteau, who emphasized the urgency of reducing cadmium's presence in the food chain. The doctors' group also called on the French government to launch awareness campaigns, change children's school menus, and promote organic foods due to their lower cadmium levels.

Cadmium limits are set to be reassessed by the European Commission in 2026, which means the window for meaningful policy change is open right now. If France and the EU don't tighten fertilizer standards this year, the pasta on your plate may carry that legacy for decades to come.