A detailed analysis from a nationwide food safety study has found that nearly one in three locally produced cereal products on Ghana’s market contains unsafe levels of cadmium, with the findings prompting regulatory reforms and urgent calls for product recalls.
The 2025 study, conducted by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), analysed 326 cereal samples drawn from retail outlets across all 16 regions of Ghana. Results show that 30.06 percent of products failed cadmium safety limits, while 3.68 percent contained dangerous levels of lead. Mercury was not detected in any of the cereal samples tested.
A significant finding is that all contaminated products were domestically produced. No imported cereal brands appeared in the contaminated dataset, which points directly to weaknesses in local processing systems, particularly among small-scale and informal producers who serve a substantial share of the market.
The contamination gap between branded and unbranded products is notable. For cadmium, 39.56 percent of unbranded cereals failed safety tests compared to 24.78 percent of branded cereals. For lead, the failure rates were more comparable, with 4.04 percent of unbranded products and 4.42 percent of branded products failing the test.
Regionally, cadmium contamination was most severe in the Oti and Northern regions, where smaller sample sizes suggest possible failure rates reaching 100 percent. The Eastern Region recorded a failure rate of 96.97 percent, while Ashanti came in at 58.33 percent. For lead, the Eastern Region posted the highest failure rate at 9.09 percent, followed by Greater Accra at 8.33 percent and Central Region at 7.41 percent. Several regions, including North East, Savannah, and Upper West, showed no recorded contamination for either metal within the samples tested.
The health stakes are high. Cereal mixes, widely known as Tom Brown, are a common weaning food for infants and young children in Ghana. Prolonged dietary exposure to cadmium can cause kidney damage and bone disease, while lead exposure in children has been linked to impaired brain development, reduced IQ, hearing problems, and behavioural difficulties.
In response, the FDA has revised registration requirements for cereal mixes to include mandatory cadmium testing, and has formally notified the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) to incorporate cadmium limits into national cereal mix standards. Nationwide public awareness campaigns are underway, and investigations are expected to be launched to trace the sources of contamination and inform further regulatory action. Border controls and market surveillance are also being strengthened, with particular attention to high-risk food products.
The broader economic consequences are significant. Producers face potential product recalls, higher testing costs, and the risk of losing consumer confidence, while contamination concerns could also affect Ghana’s competitiveness in export markets where food safety requirements are strictly enforced.
