Give Me That Chocolate!

Consumer Reports did a study and published results this month concerning chocolate. Apparently, in dark chocolate bars, a concerning amount of cadmium and/or lead were found. Consumer Reports tested 28 dark chocolate bars from a variety of brands and found that all bars contained cadmium while some of them contained lead.

Is that unusual? Kind of. While not exactly unexpected, because both metals are able to contaminate the cocoa beans naturally through the soil. What's the big deal? Are there any risks? It's nothing good. While the most dangerous form of exposure to cadmium in inhalation, consumption is still not good. Cadmium exposure via consumption over a long period of time does result in poisoning that can cause renal abnormalities that could result in renal failure as well as cardiovascular disease. It has also been suspected (but not officially confirmed) that cadmium consumption also raises the chances of developing prostate, endometrial, breast, and lung cancer.

It's worth noting that cadmium is banned by the European Union's (EU) Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive which regulates substances in electrical and electronic equipment. It would be no surprise if the EU also stretched RoHS to go as far as to ban these same substances from food. How is cadmium exposure treated? With zinc, copper, calcium, and iron ions, and selenium with vitamin C - although cadmium poisoning is not easily reversed.

What about lead? The impacts of lead on the human body are much more well studied so the list of side effects is longer when someone is exposed to lead via consumption. The most well-known one is that lead exposure does lead to damage to the brain and nervous system, which is a huge problem for developing children, so if you have little ones you may want to avoid large quantities of dark chocolate for a little while.

Which reminds us, there were some well-known chocolates with high levels of these metals, and they include, but are not limited to Lindt, Dove, Beyond Good, and Alter Eco for chocolates high in cadmium. Chocolates high in lead include but are not limited to Godiva, Lindt, Trader Joe's, Hershey's, and Hu. The bars that had high levels of both metals include but are not limited to Theo, Trader Joe's and Lily's. Consumer reports listed that Ghirardelli, among some other brands, was considered a safer choice.

We know it's the holiday season and chocolate were probably used as a stocking stuffer, but be wary when consuming dark chocolate, especially with your children. If anything, this might be an excuse to take the dark chocolate for yourself as an adult and as long as you're under an ounce a day you can give yourself an extra treat. Sounds good, right?

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