Cadmium, this heavy metal that poisons our meals
Poison in our purees and breakfast cereals. The National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) published on March 25, 2026 an assessment report on cadmium, a heavy metal present in our most common foods. This confirms the data from the first studies dating from more than ten years ago*: the French are particularly “overexposed”, via food, to this metal which is dangerous for health: a significant part of the population exceeds the reference health values developed by the agency from 2019.
Placed harmlessly in the periodic table of elements in our classrooms with its acronym “Cd”, cadmium is in reality very toxic: recognized as carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic for reproduction. Prolonged exposure commonly poses risks to the kidneys and bone tissues. Because it accumulates in the body: “it takes between 10 and 30 years to eliminate it,” ANSES explains.
Food, a major source of exposure
This metal is present both naturally, in certain rocks, and from human action, through certain fertilizers, used in both conventional and organic agriculture. It easily penetrates plants through their roots and thus enters the food chain. In its assessment, ANSES establishes that, among all possible sources of exposure (food, water, air, dust, soil, cosmetic products, smoking), food is by far the major source of exposure, representing up to 98% of cadmium exposure in the non-smoking population.
It is found in a multitude of the most frequently consumed foods: breakfast cereals, breads and dry bread products, pastries, pastries, sweet cakes and biscuits, pasta, rice and wheat as well as potatoes and certain vegetables. For smokers, tobacco constitutes an additional source of impregnation.
Faced with this toxic component, ANSES first recommends applying cadmium limit values for fertilizers spread on agricultural soils. And everyone should be vigilant about what they eat: limit the consumption of wheat-based products, introduce more legumes, vary the sources of supply, limit vaping and tobacco, especially in the presence of children…
*EAT3 2026 study; Public health France 2021
