A report due to be released this month by the Australian Government has uncovered dangerous levels of heavy metals in foods.

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The Australian & New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) examined 69 different foods for the report and gathered data from state and territory health departments. It concluded that children around the age of two years are most at risk from metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and antimony.


ANZFA believes that some children are absorbing over two and a half times the recommended levels of the metals, and has now issued a warning concerning the high levels of mercury in fish. The authority is also set to review the Food Standards Code in light of the report’s findings.


The report does reveal however that the foods investigated were very low in contaminants and pesticides.

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