Food News

Regulation (EU) 915/2023 has been updated to include specific limits for inorganic arsenic in fishery and shellfish products.

Inorganic arsenic is the most toxic form of arsenic. It can cause lung, bladder and skin cancers, as well as skin lesions. Although it occurs naturally in rocks, soil and groundwater at low concentrations, human activity has increased its levels in the environment through industrial emissions from mining and the smelting of non-ferrous metals, as well as through the burning of fossil fuels and the use of arsenic in fertilisers, wood preservatives, insecticides and herbicides. Food and drinking water are the main routes of exposure.

On 17 September 2025, Regulation (EU) 2025/1891 was published, amending Regulation (EU) 915/2023 regarding maximum levels of inorganic arsenic in fishery and shellfish products.

This new regulation is in response to assessments by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which have reinforced the need to reduce dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic, a substance classified as carcinogenic to humans.

Consequently, the new regulation sets out different limits for inorganic arsenic in fishery and seafood products.

• Fish: 0.10 mg/kg in general, and 0.50 mg/kg for species such as shark, monkfish, herring and rays.
• Crustaceans: between 0.10 and 1.50 mg/kg, depending on the species, with stricter limits for shrimp and crabs.
• Bivalve molluscs: 0.10 mg/kg for scallops and 0.50 mg/kg for all others.
• Cephalopods: 0.05 mg/kg without viscera.
• Salt: 0.5 mg/kg, applicable to total arsenic, not just inorganic arsenic.

YOUR PLUS: AGROLAB can help you meet the highest food safety standards. We have an ISO 17025-accredited method for specifically quantifying inorganic arsenic in all types of fish and seafood products.

Author: Dr Isabel Gómez, AGROLAB Iberica