They are often billed as the healthy alternative.
But most dark chocolate bars contain toxic metals linked to a host of health problems, a report suggests.
Tests on 28 bars made by popular brands including Hershey’s, Lindt and Tony’s Chocolonely revealed all contained the dangerous chemicals lead and cadmium.
The heavy metals have been linked to lung issues, memory problems, chronic disease and even an early death.
Harmful metal can find their way into cacao beans used to make dark chocolate during the manufacturing process. Cadmium can be absorbed by a plant from the soil while its growing, while lead from industrial dust can also contaminate the beans.
The above graphic shows the 28 chocolate bars tested by New York-based nonprofit Consumer Reports. All were found to contain lead and cadmium. Consumer Reports compared levels of the heavy metal in about an ounce of the chocolates to the recommended daily exposure levels from the Californian Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. These are not set specifically for food products, but overall
Lead is well-known to be dangerous to humans, causing memory loss, abdominal pain and low mood in adults after long-term exposure.
For children, the heavy metal can damage their brains and central nervous systems in high concentrations leading to learning and behavior problems.
On the other hand, even low levels of exposure to cadmium have been linked to cancer in the kidneys and developing fragile bones.
Testing by Consumer Reports — a consumer watchdog group — was carried out on one ounce of 28 different dark chocolate bars.
There is no national limit on lead and cadmium in chocolate bars set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
To determine whether the products contained dangerous levels, the nonprofit measured them against standards set by local authority the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA).
The standards — which are set for general exposure and not food safety — say people should not be exposed to more than 0.5micrograms (mcg) of lead and 4.1mcg of cadmium per day.
But a total of 23 of the bars tested (82 percent) contained lead levels up to two-and-a-half times above this and cadmium levels up to three times higher.
Five bars contained more lead and cadmium than the recommended limits: Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Lover’s 85 percent cacao, Green and Black’s Organic dark chocolate 70 percent cacao, Lily’s extremely dark chocolate 85 percent cocoa and two bars made by Theo’s.
Another ten bars contained more lead than was recommended, and eight bars contained more Cadmium than allowed by the Californian levels.
Only five bars — made by Ghirardelli, Valrhona, Taza Chocolate and Mast — had levels below acceptable standards.
Cadmium is naturally in soil. It can be absorbed by the cacao plant while it is growing.
Lead can find its way into cacao during the manufacturing process.
Industrial dust – often from car emissions and power plants – can infiltrate stocks of cacao beans during the drying process.
The lead then gets mixed into products like dark chocolate bars when they are manufactured.
Experts at Consumer Reports said that a single ounce of any of the chocolates, even those high in cadmium and lead, is unlikely to cause any immediate harm.
But they warned that repeated exposure to these toxic metals posed a risk to people’s health.
About 15 percent of Americans eat chocolate every day, according to market research firm Mintel.
Consumer Reports said it was possible for chocolate companies to reduce lead and cadmium concentrations in their products.
A number of bars had levels of these heavy metals below the limits set in California, said Tunde Akinleye, a food safety researcher at Consumer Reports.
‘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 added.
Concerns over lead and cadmium levels may also extend to other chocolate products including hot cocoa, brownies and cake mixes.
The National Confectioners Association — speaking on behalf of chocolate manufacturers — said: ‘Dark chocolate can be enjoyed as treats as they have been for centuries.
‘The products cited in this study are in compliance with strict quality and safety requirements.’
They 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.’
DailyMail.com has contacted the FDA for comment.
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