Heavy metals found in dark chocolate including Hershey's and Trader Joe's

[bucolic_frolic]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dark-chocolate-metals-lead-consumer-reports-hersheys-trader-joes/

Long viewed as healthier than other sweet treats, some kinds of dark chocolate contain potentially dangerous amounts of heavy metals, according to research released on Thursday by Consumer Reports.

Scientists at the nonprofit advocacy organization recently measured the amount of heavy metals in 28 popular brands of dark chocolate bars and found cadmium and lead in all of them. For 23 of the bars, consuming just an ounce a day would put an adult over a level for at least one of the metals that could be harmful, CR said. Five of the bars were above those levels for both cadmium and lead.

Long-term exposure to even small amounts of heavy metals can lead to a slew of health issues, including developmental problems and brain development in young children, experts say.

"But there are risks for people of any age," Tunde Akinleye, the CR food safety researcher who led the testing, said in a statement. Frequent exposure to lead in adults can lead to nervous system problems, hypertension, immune system suppression, kidney damage and reproductive issues, he noted.

[Haggard Celine]

1. Certainly not good for children!

Be careful about feeding chocolate to children, unfortunately.

[Ford_Prefect]

2. What about dark chocolate in Hershey's sauce or added to ice cream flavors?

Or in baked goods by Hostess or anyone else?

[sl8]

3. Link to Consumer Reports report, chocolate brands:

https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/

[Crowman2009]

15. Ghirardelli is on the safe list! WOO-HOO!

One of the greatest things to come from San Francisco besides beat poetry and Jefferson Airplane.

[cally]

24. It's my favorite

I grew up in an area where I frequently smelled the factory. I miss that smell

[panader0]

33. I went to their store when I was in SF in the spring. I was 71 at the time but felt like a

little kid. The aromas and the selection.
Dark chocolate is the only kind I like. Oh, I like the beat poets too. Especially Gary Snyder and
Ferlinghetti. I have the original Jefferson Airplane album, and Moby Grape and Quicksilver, etc.
I was born in SF but only there for a few days. I have returned many times and root for the Giants.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

25. Thanks for the link!

Crap. My favorite, "Endangered Species" is shown at 181% lead, 31% Cd.

1 oz is the "serving size" on the label, and that's what CR's report uses.

[Meowmee]

4. Oy, something else I have to worry about

I have been eating a lot of chocolate since my father died. I’m trying to wean myself off my eating snickers which doesn’t have as much chocolate. But the last couple of weeks I bought some giant Hershey’s bars. However almost all of the chocolate is milk chocolate because dark chocolate gives me the runs. So I guess I’m ok.

But I just made my own almond flour bars with dark chocolate chips, raisins and walnuts.

[LeftInTX]

28. Large amounts of dark chocolate are not good for you anyway

The scientific name of chocolate is Theobroma. The active ingredient is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobromine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobromine_poisoning

This is why dogs can't tolerate chocolate.

Theobromine doses at 0.8–1.5 g per day, such as may be found in 50–100 g (1.8–3.5 oz) of cocoa powder may be accompanied by sweating, trembling and severe headaches. These are the mild-to-moderate symptoms.[citation needed]

The severe symptoms are cardiac arrhythmias,[5] epileptic seizures, internal bleeding, heart attacks, and eventually death.[citation needed]

Limited mood effects were shown at 250 mg per day.[ci

[Meowmee]

32. Ty... I know about that component

And that it can affect your heart etc. That was part of the reason why I was cutting down on the Hershey’s and switching to snickers as well as that the Hershey’s I used to buy went up by like eight dollars in four months! However I think the amounts I am eating are never going to be anywhere near that and most of it is milk chocolate, so, I think I’m good.

[dickthegrouch]

35. I must have been a dog in my past life

I get severe migraines from dark chocolate.
Hershey shouldn’t be allowed to call any of the muck chocolate.
I love Trader Joe’s “Pound Plus” milk chocolate though.

[LeftInTX]

38. Man, I can't even eat a single chocolate chip cookie

[48656c6c6f20]

5. So cadmium uptake is "normal" and will be in any chocolate

I was like WTF how does cadmium and heavy metals get into chcoaloate and found this

https://candyusa.com/news/research-reveals-ways-lead-and-cadmium-in-chocolate-may-be-reduced/

[Sympthsical]

9. Yeah, it's been a thing in the industry for a while

Kind of funny to see this, "New to me" breathlessness of the story for something that's been known. It isn't suddenly there when it wasn't before.

We discussed this in women's health. Because dark chocolate can play a role in easing PMDD and PMS symptoms, many women choose it. However, when the topic came up, we discussed how it should be done in moderation precisely because of this issue. Lead and cadmium in excess are linked to various organ, nerve, and neurological problems, but in women it has also been linked to infertility and hormonal changes.

It's like fish and mercury. It's good for you, but don't go crazy eating it. Once or twice a week will do for you.

[48656c6c6f20]

22. Lol thanks. I like a cup of cacao nibs tea once in a while

And was not looking forward to getting rid of one more delicious vice.

[certainot]

23. and i'm half way through a dark TJ's pound bar.... been having heavy thoughts

[LeftInTX]

29. Dark chocolate makes everything worse for me. I can't tolerate it at all.

Makes me dizzy and jittery.

[Sympthsical]

30. Everyone's different

Could be sensitivity to the caffeine or the vasodilative effects or both working together.

It's kind of an interesting mix, because it can contribute to tachycardia from the caffeine but also dilates vessels with a potential for faintness/dizziness.

Ginger tea is a really good substitute for people looking for health effects of dark chocolate but don't like it. It has the enzyme zingibain which is an anti-inflammatory particularly effective within reproductive muscles.

[LeftInTX]

39. They literally created the bronchodilator, theophylline from cocoa beans

Theophylline has side effects similar to sudafed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophylline

[Sympthsical]

41. That is super interesting

Today I learned. Thank you!

[SheltieLover]

6. Kicking for visibility

[KG]

7. Hershey's and Trader Joe's say 'I got something for you....

[3Hotdogs]

8. Wow. Is it in the soil and absorbed by the plant?

Or from the manufacturing process?

[DFW]

10. In the soil

Lead and cadmium are not essential to manufacturing chocolate. This is probably not something that can be easily fixed by anything other than reducing chocolate consumption, and who wants to do that?

[3Hotdogs]

11. But also spinach, carrots and whatever else.

Poor Popeye.

[DFW]

13. It must have come as a crushing blow to him

Here, he thought he was one of the first health food pioneers.

His reaction was understandable:

[paleotn]

12. Yes. Cadmium from the soil. Lead from external contamination while drying after harvest.

At the link, go below CR's recommendations for an explanation. I've got to know how it works.

https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/

[Paper Roses]

14. I wish the name of the worst offenders was published.

I'd like to know what to avoid other than the two mentioned.

[sl8]

16. Link to Consumer Reports, lists:

https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/

[Old Crank]

17. The lead levels would probably be worse

If we hadn't gotten the lead out of gasoline decades ago.
Now, all chocolate is grown in other lesser developed countries so I can't say how
the lead in gas is handled there but I think lead reduction is world wide for gas.

That being said, I would like to know the numbers of bars of each type tested and where they were made.
I don't think 1 bar is a representative sample of the entire run of a product.
I noticed 2 different Lindt bars. One was low in lead but over in cadmium. The other was reversed. Differences were the percentages of cocoa in the bars.

[tanyev]

18. Well, crap.

[Warpy]

19. This seems to apply to the super dark chocolate

with the highest amoung of cacao in it. I might feed kids milk chocolate, they prefer the icky sweet mass produced stuff, anyway.

I'm a dedicated chocoholic and most of the symptoms of heavy metal toxicity would improve my nasty autoimmune disease, so I'm certainly not going on the wagon any time soon. When my doc called me with my lab results, her first words were "Well, you're certainly not diabetic," something I knew and her second were "whatever you're doing, keep doing it." My chocolate Jones is apparently good for me.

I was a little surprised that both Lindt and Godiva tested high. I have to wonder about Tobler, also, they all might be sourced from the same place, like Mars is the source for most US mass market chocolate.

I do like Ghirardelli, more available here in the west than it was back east, and I think they do their own processing. I keep finding bits in it that I hope are cacao nib husks and not cockroach parts. Again, it's not icky sweet, so I do like the brand, and I'll put up with whatever it is I occasionally find in it.

That reminds me, I have a bag of their chocolate chips (made with real vanilla, not imitation) and I think it's time for a big batch of chocolate chip muffins.

[NNadir]

20. Without viewing the details I suspect this is a function of journalist...

...ignorance.

There have been incredible developments in analytical technology, notably ICP-MS, which can now detect metals that have always been there but were undectable with less sophisticated technology.

The limits of detection are on the order of parts per trillion.

I suspect if I have time to actually look at the claim, it will recall my frequently repeated remark that one cannot get a job as a journalist if one has passed a college level science course with a grade of C or better.

[highplainsdem]

21. Damn.

[chowder66]

26. I need them to test Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups stat!

[Genki Hikari]

31. Dang. I liked Endangered Species

For its support of wildlife, and how it wasn't overloaded with sugar.

[Hekate]

36. Theobroma means Food of the Gods, yes it does.

Does it say anything about See’s chocolates?

[Deminpenn]

37. There's a reason reproducing chocolate is the "holy grail" of food chemists

The chemical composition of chocolate contains elements that by themselves are poisonous, but when combined in chocolate are not.

It might be out of print, but read "Emporers of Chocolate" about the rise and competition between Hershey and Mars. https://www.amazon.com/Emperors-Chocolate-Inside-Secret-Hershey/dp/0767904575

[newdayneeded]

40. They need to leave

AC/DC, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin out of this!


Ohhh, just read the article, not that kind of metal.

[burrowowl]

42. Kick!