Table 1.

Estimated UB Hg levels in MEAL foods, summarised by main food groups [mg/kg].

Main food group	Pooled samples (n)	MEAL foods (n)	Pooled samples < LOD/LOQ (%)	Mean	SD	Median	Min	Max
Grains and grain-based products	97	40	59	0.003	0.001	0.003	0.001	0.006
Vegetables and vegetable products	152	34	47	0.020	0.105	0.002	0.001	0.623
Starchy roots or tubers and products thereof	26	8	65	0.002	0.001	0.002	0.001	0.004
Legumes, nuts, oilseeds and spices	24	20	58	0.003	0.001	0.003	0.002	0.007
Fruit and fruit products	64	22	63	0.002	0.001	0.002	0.001	0.004
Meat and meat products	101	35	62	0.002	0.001	0.002	0.001	0.007
Fish, seafood and invertebrates	39	30	0	0.100	0.151	0.045	0.002	0.670
Milk and dairy products	37	23	62	0.002	0.000	0.002	0.001	0.002
Eggs and egg products	10	2	90	0.001	0.000	0.001	0.001	0.001
Sugar, confectionery and water-based sweet desserts	18	15	89	0.003	0.001	0.003	0.002	0.006
Animal and vegetable fats and oils	13	8	100	0.003	0.000	0.003	0.003	0.003
Fruit and vegetable juices and nectars	12	10	17	0.002	0.000	0.002	0.002	0.002
Water and water-based beverages	41	6	22	0.001	0.001	0.002	0.000	0.002
Coffee, cocoa, tea and infusions	12	9	42	0.002	0.001	0.002	0.001	0.003
Alcoholic beverages	11	8	27	0.002	0.000	0.002	0.001	0.002
Food products for infants and toddlers	15	11	40	0.002	0.001	0.002	0.001	0.003
Products for non-standard diets and food imitates	8	7	13	0.004	0.006	0.002	0.002	0.018
Composite dishes	170	52	85	0.002	0.002	0.001	0.001	0.014
Seasoning, sauces and condiments	19	16	74	0.001	0.001	0.002	0.001	0.003

Left-censored data were analysed using the upper bound (UB) approach, i.e. results below LOD were replaced by the value reported as LOD and results below LOQ and above LOD by the value reported as LOQ. Different LOQs applied, i.e. 0.002 mg/kg for moist foods, 0.005 mg/kg for dry foods and 0.00005 – 0.0001 mg/kg for drinking water. The percentage of left-censored data for Hg amounts to 90 % (804 pooled samples) in the mLB and 57 % (508 pooled samples) in the UB.