# Potential Metal Contamination in Foods of Animal Origin--Food Safety Aspects
## 5 Conclusions  
Based on the above, it can be stated that the current Community and complementary local and national regulations set limit values for fewer heavy metals and metalloids, and the range of regulated foods of animal origin is also narrower; for example, wild animals or eggs are missing.  
The most important sources of exposure to inorganic arsenic are cereal and cereal-based products (particularly rice grain and its products), followed by tap and bottled water, beverages (coffee, beer), fish, and vegetables. However, in aquatic organisms (fish and seafood), arsenic is found in the form of organic derivatives that are not toxic to the consumer.  
The highest cadmium concentrations can be found in food of animal origin, including seaweed, fish and seafood, and edible offal (liver, kidney), and in food of plant origin, including fungi, oilseeds, and chocolate. However, due to monitoring systems and investigations in the European Union, its detected concentrations do not exceed the ML levels; thus, they are safe and not objectionable.  
The most important exposure of lead in humans is mainly foods of plant origin, such as cereals and their products, potatoes, and vegetables. Basically, these foods are safe, but the dietary exposure of lead may pose potential risk to high consumers. However, lead levels may be higher in the muscle and offal of wild animals due to lead-containing bullets still being used.  
Mercury can accumulate primarily in the tissues of aquatic organisms, particularly as methylmercury; thus, fish, shellfish, and other edible marine animals may pose potential risk to consumers.  
In the case of domesticated food-producing animals, their housing and nutrition are generally properly regulated and controlled; thus, their edible organs and tissues are basically safe to consume despite the aforementioned legal shortcomings.  
The regulation of game meat (including offal) in particular would be worth considering, given that it is closely correlated with the environmental status of the given area and serves as an indicator of it. Re-thinking and amending the regulation of lead concentration in foods of animal origin may be justified so that only truly safe food can reach the consumer's table from the farmland.  
Based on the previously mentioned properties, the acceptable maximum levels of metals should/must be regulated in eggs used for human consumption, or even in different egg products.  
In the EU, the consumption of meat of domesticated food-producing animals was 66 kg/person in 2024. However, the consumption of game meat is low, ranging from 0.2 to 1.1 kg per person/year in different countries. Based on this, applying the ML for domesticated farm animals based on the legal regulation may be recommended for wild game, which can highly protect consumers.  
The egg consumption in the EU was around 13 kg/person/year. It is one-fifth of meat consumption; thus, the same risk management method as game meat may be recommended [159].  
Conceptualization, J.L. and D.P.; writing--original draft preparation, J.L. and D.P.; writing--review and editing, D.P., A.L.N., T.K.; supervision, J.L. and M.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research received no funding.  
Not applicable.  
No new data were created or analyzed in this study. Data sharing is not applicable to this article.  
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.