February 14, 2023 – Dark chocolate is wealthy. It's intense. Some imagine it's an aphrodisiac. Plus, it has quite a few proven health advantages. A box of delicate, delicious chocolates might appear to be just the thing to your Valentine. But recent headlines can have you rethinking that sweet, sexy gift. Here's what it’s best to know.
Towards the top of last yr Consumer Reports announced that they’d tested 28 different dark chocolate bars and lead and cadmium found in each of them.
“I was devastated,” says Taryn FitzGerald. The Brooklyn-based artist has enjoyed dark chocolate for years and enjoys a “tiny piece” every night. “Dark chocolate is one of my passions.”
What the report says
The presence of cadmium and lead in dark chocolate is nothing new. The environmental organization As You Sow sued a group of chocolate manufacturers a few years ago because of this. As part of the settlement, researchers investigated how heavy metals contaminate cocoa beans, the main ingredient in dark chocolate. Your report In August last year, a study was published that found that cadmium gets into the beans via the soil in which the chocolate is grown, while lead contamination occurs during chocolate processing.
Consumer Reports wanted to test the current reality in the store and provide new details.
“There are always new products or reformulations of foods,” says Dr. Jim Rogers, Consumer Reports' Director of Food Safety Research. “We might imagine we all know quite a bit about food – which will or might not be true.”
The organization tested bars from major companies like Dove, Hershey's and Trader Joe's, as well as smaller ones like Tony's Chocolonely and Mast Brothers, some of which are conventionally grown, some organic. There are no federal limits on lead and cadmium levels in food, so they set their limit at the maximum allowable dose in California.
“We use standards that we imagine protect health,” says Rogers. “We all the time say no lead level is protected, right? We want lead levels in all foods to be as near zero as possible.”
The tests looked at how much of these metals are contained in a single 1-ounce serving. Of the 28 bars tested Consumer Reports 23 have been found to deliver a potentially harmful dose of at least one.
Eight bars contained more than 100% of the allowable limit for cadmium, ten exceeded the lead limit, and five exceeded both limits. Some contained more than twice the amount of one metal or the other. For example, a 1-ounce bar of Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate 85% cocoa – the bar FitzGerald ate every night for years – contains 166% of the allowable limit for lead and 80% cadmium.
Consumer ReportsThe list of “safer alternatives” contains only five bars with a content of less than 100% of both metals. None were completely free of lead or cadmium.
The National Confectioners Association issued a statement in response to the results: “The products in this study meet stringent quality and safety requirements and the Consumer Reports The tests are well below the limit values our settlement.”
The health risks of heavy metals
Both cadmium and lead are naturally occurring elements found in soil and elsewhere in the environment. But just because they're natural doesn't mean they're good for you.
“Some heavy metals really don’t have any function in our bodies. They don't have to be there, and a few of them accumulate,” says Katarzyna Kordas, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health at the University at Buffalo School of Public Health. “These metals aren’t any joke. We want as little of them as possible in our surroundings, and that features food.”
Once ingested, cadmium stays in your body for decades. It is known to cause cancer, can cause kidney damage, and weaken your bones. Lead attacks your respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, your nervous system, and your kidneys, among other things.
The buildup of these metals in your body is what makes them so dangerous. And dark chocolate is far from the only source we eat. The FDA's Total Diet Study monitors both nutrients and contaminants in thousands of foods. Researchers found Cadmium in 61% and lead in 15% of the samples tested.
Because cadmium is found in soil, plants such as spinach and root vegetables are particularly rich in cadmium. Lead enters the food chain during manufacturing and is therefore found in baby food and sandwich biscuits. It is virtually impossible to avoid these two metals completely.
“I believe all foods have these things in them,” says Dr. Marion Nestle, who studies and writes about food systems. “When they do tests, they find heavy metals in astonishing amounts. It's like pesticides – everyone has them.”
So the challenge is to limit your risk.
An obvious solution would be to avoid dark chocolate (and spinach) altogether, no matter how many other benefits it offers. But no one is saying you should avoid all foods known to contain cadmium or lead. That could backfire.
“The risk of omitting a nutrient-rich food,” Kordas says, “could potentially be as great as eating a food that comprises contaminants.”
Chocolatiers can reduce heavy metals
Because cadmium and lead enter chocolate in different ways, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem. Instead, experts recommend a series of measures that cocoa farmers and chocolate manufacturers can take both now and in the future.
To reduce the cadmium content that cocoa plants absorb from the soil:
- Buy beans with lower values. Soil contamination varies by region and even by farm. Some Latin American countries have the highest levels and African countries have the lowest. Chocolate manufacturers may choose to buy beans from less polluted areas.
- Mix bean crops. When a chocolatier combines cocoa from different regions with different levels of contamination, he softens the overall values. Some chocolate makers already do this. One of them, Tazo, has a bar on Consumer Reports' List of “protected decisions”.
- Add balancing substances to the soil. When farmers change the composition of the soil, it can become more difficult for plants to absorb cadmium.
For lead, which can contaminate cocoa beans at multiple points during harvesting and processing, the changes may be easier to implement. Some could show results within a year of implementation. They focus on reducing lead contamination of beans along the way from the ground to the store.
How to choose safer chocolate
It should be obvious by now: you don't have to cut dark chocolate out of your life, although you can choose to. The risk varies from person to person and depends on your health history and what else you eat. However, experts recommend that pregnant women and children avoid dark chocolate.
Here’s how you can reduce your risk:
- Eat less chocolate. If you don't want to give it up, you shouldn't eat dark chocolate every day. “We imagine our findings and people of others are necessary enough to make recommendations to scale back your consumption of dark chocolate,” says Rogers.
- Variety, variety, variety. Just as manufacturers can reduce risk by mixing bean crops, you can protect yourself by eating different brands and types of chocolate. Dark chocolate, with a lower cocoa content in the 65 to 70 percent range, appears to contain less cadmium and lead. Milk chocolate uses even less cocoa, which means lower amounts of heavy metals. “Never eat the identical chocolate over and all over again,” advises Nestlé. “This applies to all foods – the more varied your food plan, the more likely you might be to get the nutrients you wish and avoid what's not good for you.”
- Increase your iron and calcium levels. Your body absorbs lead the same way it absorbs iron and calcium, two metals you actually need. If your diet doesn't contain enough of them, more lead can enter your body. “One reason the CDC recommends a food plan high in calcium and iron is since it's one strategy to prevent lead accumulation in children,” Kordas says.
- Become an informed consumer. If you're concerned about your risk, Rogers recommends contacting your favorite chocolate maker. Ask what their own testing reveals. “Good corporations know what's occurring with their product,” he says.
FitzGerald hasn’t eaten her favorite chocolate since Consumer Reports', according to the results of the study. She is happy that she may not have to forego her evening treat completely.
“I'm going to start out trying other brands,” she says, “and in addition just see how I get by without chocolate.”