With the increase of global imports and exports, diversification of the food chain, changes of habits and consumer demands become necessary to use new strategies in the food industry, especially in terms of quality management and product safety. The world market currently requires knowledge of the concentrations of toxic contaminants at levels of trace and ultra-trace as well as the establishment of mechanisms that enable food traceability, ensuring the provision of safe and proven quality. To ensure the reliability of these data, since 1994, several international organizations have defined the concept oftraceability, which was modified, and subsequently the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation (EC) 178/2002, which became mandatory from January 2005. This study aims to determine the content of metals and trace metals in samples of shrimp, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, collected in the Prata City, region of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, for the domestic consumption and export. Ten samples of three different sizes (as traceability regulation) were collected at four different sites (breeding ponds available) over two seasons (considered representative of the climate in the region).The elements detected above 30 μg g-1, using Mass Spectrometry Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP-MS), in different samples analyzed, were the Cu, Zn, Mg and Fe. Already the Cr, Cd, Pb, As and Hg were detected in trace levels. The values of all metals are below acceptable value, for daily consumption per unit, by the Food and Agriculture Organization - United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO), with the exception of copper.