Hi Chocolate Lovers!
After more than a year of chocolate panic and confusion about unsafe levels of lead and cadmium in chocolate, there is some good news.
For those who didn’t see it, I covered these disturbing findings in an October 2017 post and have been trying to get answers from chocolate companies since. Nestle, Mars—even Chocolove—responded defensively to my inquiries while trying to undermine the incriminating findings, “All our chocolate falls within FDA required limits, blah blah blah”. Trader Joe’s played the good intentions card: “we will not offer any products we feel are unsafe, ever, and we have no reason to believe our chocolate products are not absolutely safe to enjoy”. Yada yada.
Happily, the non-profit organization that broke the story, As you Sow, refused to let the story disappear and relentlessly pursued its ongoing investigation. They are determined to educate the public and to make chocolate bars safer.
Their hard work paid off, as you will see from their news release below, hot off the press.
It appears that the source(s) of heavy metal contamination are still being explored so no definitive results are available yet. But all the major chocolate companies are now on board trying to find a solution. They didn’t choose to be part of the solution, but their hands were forced legally by As You Sow. These companies who collectively control most of the world’s chocolate production have pledged their assistance in the search for lead and cadmium contamination. I’m sure they put up a fight to contest the results and maybe did their own testing, but finally acknowledged that there was a problem. This is a major collaborative effort and one with enormous leverage because of the money and influence behind it. And there’s potential for meaningful change. Even better, these companies have agreed to label chocolate bars that are currently on the market and dangerous to eat.
Feel free to post any questions and I’ll try to find the answers. You might also go directly to the source and report back to GFF readers.
Good job, As You Sow!!!
HUGE NEWS! After years of effort by As You Sow, the largest chocolate companies in the world have finally agreed to take action to reduce or eliminate the lead and cadmium in their chocolate products.
The makers of Mars bars, Hershey’s, Guittard, Cadbury, Lindt, and Nestle chocolates — plus the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers Callebaut and Blommer, and chocolate suppliers like Cargill — have signed a settlement with As You Sow, agreeing to:
- -investigate the sources of lead and cadmium in chocolate,
- -reduce the lead and cadmium levels where feasible, and
- -warn consumers where lead and cadmium levels cannot be adequately lowered.
- -This is a court-approved settlement, so it has teeth.*
This is a big step for consumer health. No company includes heavy metals in chocolate on purpose, but when lead and cadmium show up in chocolate bars, manufacturers owe it to all of us to DO something about it.
You can do something about it, too. We’ve tested over a hundred chocolate bars for lead and cadmium — check the list to see if your favorite chocolates are on it — we just updated the list with new test results yesterday. If there’s a red “Warning Required” label, that chocolate bar has enough lead and/or cadmium to require a State of California warning label. Science shows that there is NO safe level of lead for infants and children — check out the chocolate FAQs for more details.
We hope you’ll celebrate today’s victory with us. You’re making a difference — with your buying choices, with your voice, and with your support — keep it up, and before you know it, chocolate WILL be safe to eat.
Best regards,
Danielle Fugere
President & Chief Counsel
* This settlement is the result of nearly five years of legal work by As You Sow to cause chocolate companies to reduce the lead and cadmium in their products. California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, Proposition 65, requires that consumers receive a warning when chemicals listed as reproductive toxins — such as lead and cadmium — are present in products at levels above the State’s “maximum allowable dose level.” Yesterday – on Valentine’s Day — a California Superior Court judge approved the settlement negotiated by As You Sow and leaders of the chocolate industry requiring a joint study to investigate and report on the main sources of lead and cadmium in chocolate products. The study will include findings and recommendations on feasible measures to meaningfully reduce levels of lead and cadmium found in chocolate products and will set thresholds for determining when lead and/or cadmium Prop 65 warnings will be required for chocolate products.
“Our goal has always been to work with chocolate manufacturers to find ways to avoid or reduce lead and cadmium in their chocolate products,” Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, said. “This settlement helps achieves that goal and provides for interim warning levels as we jointly work on the study.”
Click here for more information
P.S. Interim warning levels are a first step. You can help make sure the heat stays on chocolate makers to get the lead out with your donation. Click here to help test more chocolate bars.
Our testing provides consumers with information about what products require a warning under California’s Prop 65. Consumer knowledge and communication with the chocolate industry keeps the pressure on to make chocolate cleaner and safer.
It’s hard to picture what the labels might look like. Here are some ideas.
Care to submit a design direction? I’d love to see more. And I’ll post the actual label when it arrives on the market!
Scary stuff. In Chocolate, is nothing sacred anymore?
Hi Scott,
Yes–I was very disappointed to learn about heavy metals in chocolate because it is a superfood, for goodness sake!!! Hopefully researchers will get to the bottom of the contamination soon and then we can all continue to enjoy our dark chocolate without concern.
-your GFF
Good Food Fighter, what are your favorite chocolates to eat these days?
Hi Jen! These days, good quality chocolate is plentiful—I discover new brands almost everywhere I go. Here is my criteria:
1) simple ingredient list. The best chocolate has three basic ingredients: cocoa, sugar, and cacao butter. The best bars will add only organic nuts, real vanilla, and himalayan salt. Most bars include soy lecithin, a byproduct of soy which gives it a smooth, uniform appearance and can cause neurological motor defects over time, as well as other preservatives and fillers.
2) dark. At least 70% cocoa.
3) Preferably raw. That means that the beans are not roasted, allowing them to retain iron, zinc, magnesium, copper and vitamin C and higher levels of antioxidants.
4) Low in sugar (no more than 6g per serving). I prefer coconut sugar, maple syrup, and honey. Avoid things like invert sugar, dextrose, and high fructose corn syrup— signs of a highly processed, unhealthy chocolate. Stevia and xylitol are okay in small doses.
5) organic. So you’re not eating pesticides.
6) Fair-trade. That means that the farmer–likely in Nigeria or Peru–is making enough money to feed his family.
I’m much more concerned about the lead, since reading that no lead whatsoever is ok for kids.
Does this mean that Hershey’s, nestle, etc should be forbidden? I normally give Hershey’s syrup, or a few bars, or Reese’s cups for hot chocolate in moderation to them. Dark chocolate is far to bitter for them.
You do realize that the labeling on the Green and Black chocolate bar saying “now with organic lead and cadmium” is an oxymoron. Both lead and cadmium are inorganic substances.
Hi Ed,
LOL, thanks for pointing out the irony. It was a satire. Of course many substances that we think of as harmful including heavy metals like lead and cadmium exist naturally n the environment in very small doses. You just don’t want a large dose in your food!
Happy and healthy eating,
-your GFF