Objective To investigate the cadmium contamination levels in commercially available foods in Jinhua City, to assess the dietary cadmium exposure risk among Jinhua residents, and to provide a scientific basis for optimizing dietary recommendations and managing cadmium exposure risks.

Methods From 2013 to 2024, a total of 4 434 samples of 15 categories of commercially available foods from the Jinhua Food Safety Risk Monitoring System, including rice, milled and processed grains, fresh vegetables 1 (leafy vegetables, celery, and daylily flowers), fresh vegetables 2 (legume vegetables, root and tuber vegetables, and stem vegetables other than celery) , fresh vegetables 3 (all vegetables other than fresh vegetables 1 and fresh vegetables 2), fresh fruits, legumes and legume products, nuts and seeds, meat and meat products (excluding livestock and poultry offal and products made from them), eggs and egg products, milk and dairy products, fish, crustaceans (excluding sea crabs and mantis shrimp), sea crabs and mantis shrimp, and other aquatic products (bivalves, gastropods, cephalopods, and echinoderms), were collected from 9 counties (cities and districts) in Jinhua City to assess their cadmium contamination levels. Combining these results with data from the 2023 Jinhua City Resident Nutrition Surveillance Survey, the health risks associated with dietary cadmium exposure among residents of different ages and genders in Jinhua City were assessed according to the provisional tolerable monthly intake (PTMI, 25 μg·kg^-1) and margins of safety (MOS) recommended by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). A MOS > 1 indicated that the risk of dietary cadmium exposure for residents was at an acceptable level，whereas a MOS ≤ 1 indicated that the risk of dietary cadmium exposure for residents was relatively high.

Results The cadmium detection rate in food was 73.55% (3 261/4 434), with 4.06% (180/4 434) of samples exceeding the limit. Foods with higher cadmium detection rates were in sea crabs and mantis shrimp (98.59%), fresh vegetables 1 (94.92%), and rice (87.93%). The median cadmium concentration was 0.010 mg·kg^-1. Food categories with higher cadmium concentrations included sea crabs and mantis shrimp (0.644 mg·kg^-1), rice (0.032 mg·kg^-1), and fresh vegetables 1 (0.020 mg·kg^-1). A total of 2 092 individuals were included in the population nutrition surveillance survey, and the average daily per capita food consumption was 887.97 g·d^-1, consisting of fresh vegetables (342.17 g·d^-1), meat and meat products (141.29 g·d^-1), and rice (110.70 g·d^-1). The 50th and 95th percentiles of cadmium mass fractions were used to define general and high exposure levels for assessing resident exposure risk. When assigning a value of 0 and the limit of detection (LOD) value to the contamination levels of undetected samples, at the general exposure level, the monthly average cadmium exposure for the residents was 5.08 and 5.15 μg·kg^-1 (based on body weight; same below), with MOS values of 4.92 and 4.85; the range of average cadmium exposure across different age and gender groups was 3.91‒6.70 and 3.97‒6.80 μg·kg^-1, with all MOS values >1, indicating that the dietary cadmium exposure risk for the residents was at an acceptable level. At the high exposure level, the average cadmium exposure for the residents was 36.02 μg·kg⁻¹, with an MOS value of 0.69; the average cadmium exposure levels for different age and gender groups ranged from 27.68 to 48.37 μg·kg⁻¹, with MOS values ranging from 0.52 to 0.90, all of which were <1; indicating that the dietary cadmium exposure risk for residents was relatively high. Dietary cadmium exposure among minors aged 6‒17 years in Jinhua City was higher than that among adults, and dietary cadmium exposure among females was higher than that among males. Rice and fresh vegetables were the major foods contributing to dietary cadmium exposure among residents in Jinhua City, each accounting for more than 30% of the total exposure contribution.

Conclusion Commercially available foods in Jinhua City exhibit varying degrees of cadmium contamination, with higher levels primarily found in aquatic products such as sea crabs and mantis shrimp, fresh vegetables such as leafy greens, celery, and daylily flowers, as well as rice. The dietary cadmium exposure risk for residents of Jinhua City is at an acceptable level under general exposure conditions but poses a health risk under high exposure conditions. Monitoring of cadmium in relevant foods should be strengthened, and dietary guidance should be provided to high-risk groups including minors aged 6‒17 years and women.