Lead is harmful to humans and can cause memory loss, abdominal pain, and low mood after prolonged exposure.
In high quantities, the heavy metal may cause harm to children’s brains and central nervous systems, resulting in cognitive and behavioral deficits.
However, cadmium exposure, even at low levels, has been associated with a variety of cancers, including those of the kidneys and the bones.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not established a national limit for lead and cadmium in chocolate bars.
The watchdog group Consumer Reports put one-ounce bars of 28 different dark chocolate varieties through a battery of tests.
The nonprofit checked the products against set standards by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to see if they had dangerous amounts.
Standards for general exposure, not food safety, state that daily exposure to lead and cadmium should not exceed 0.5 micrograms (mcg) and 4.1 mcg, respectively.
However, up to two and a half times, this amount of lead and up to three times this amount of cadmium were found in 23 of the bars tested (82%).
According to the report, five bars contained more lead and cadmium than recommended limits: Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Lover’s 85% cacao, Green and Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate 70% cacao, Lily’s Extremely Dark Chocolate 85% cocoa, and two bars made by Theo’s.
Ten additional bars contained more lead than recommended, and eight bars contained more cadmium than allowed by California’s levels.
Only five bars — Ghirardelli, Valrhona, Taza Chocolate, and Mast — had amounts that were below safe limits.
Soil naturally contains cadmium. It may be absorbed by the cocoa plant as it is developing.
Lead may enter cacao throughout the production process.
Cacao bean stocks may get contaminated by industrial dust during the drying process, which is often caused by vehicle emissions and power plants.
Lead can enter dark chocolate bars during the manufacturing process.
A single ounce of any chocolate, even ones with high lead and cadmium content, is unlikely to hurt you right away, according to Consumer Reports’ experts.
It would take excessive consumption or daily consumption of a chocolate bar to suffer severe long-term harm as a result.
But they warned that people could get sick if they were exposed to these toxic metals over and over again.
Mintel, a company that does market research, says that about 15% of Americans eat chocolate every day.
According to Consumer Reports, chocolate manufacturers may cut down on lead and cadmium levels in their goods.
Tunde Akinleye, a food safety researcher at Consumer Reports, said that a number of bars had levels of these heavy metals that were below the limits set by California.
“That shows it’s possible for companies to make products with lower amounts of heavy metals — and for consumers to find safer products that they enjoy,” he said.
It’s possible that other chocolate goods, such as hot cocoa, brownies, and cake mixes, may have elevated amounts of lead and cadmium.
On behalf of chocolate makers, the National Confectioners Association said, “dark chocolate can be enjoyed as treats as they have been for centuries.”
The items included in this research “are in compliance with strict quality and safety requirements.”
The agency added: “The OEHHA standards cited in the Consumer Reports study are not food safety standards.
“The products cited in this study are in compliance with strict quality and safety requirements, and the levels provided to us by Consumer Reports testing are well under the limits established by our settlement.”
The FDA monitors and controls the amounts of environmental pollutants, including lead and cadmium, in foods.
“If the agency finds that the level of a contaminant causes the food to be unsafe,” a spokeswoman for the FDA said, “we take action, which may include working with the manufacturer to resolve the issue and taking steps to prevent the product from entering, or remaining in, the US market.”
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