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Explanation of the test results: 

Heavy metals 

The concentrations of the heavy metals arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead are usually so low during the tests that they cannot even be detected with the extremely sensitive laboratory equipment. If the values are below the detectable limit, the test result is '<' or 'less than'. In reality the value is usually several times lower still. 

Legal requirement for heavy metals: 

• For arsenic + cadmium + lead + mercury, the maximum total content is 10 mg/kg or 10 ppm (parts per million). 

Example of a good test result: 

• Arsenic: < 0.1 mg/kg
• Cadmium: < 0.05 mg/kg
• Mercury: 0.01 mg/kg
• Lead: < 0.05 mg/kg 

For this result, the total sum is less than 0.21 mg/kg, which is one-fiftieth of the permitted level. But since the values are all below the detectable limit, the actual concentrations are probably several times lower. 

Microbiology 

The results of the microbiological profile, the pollution due to fungi and bacteria, also show that the concentrations are often lower than the detectable limit of the sophisticated laboratory equipment. 

Legal requirement for the microbiological profile: 

• Aerobic plate count: less than 10,000 colony-forming units (CFU) per gram
• Escherichia coli plate count: absent/below detectable limit
• Yeasts & moulds plate count: less than 300 CFU per gram
• Salmonella: absent/below detectable limit 

Example of a good test result: 

• Aerobic plate count: 200 CFU/g
• Escherichia coli plate count: < 10 CFU/g
• Yeasts & moulds plate count: < 10 CFU/g
• Salmonella: absent/below detectable limit