Watchdog says DON’T get mom chocolate this Mother’s Day

Millions of Americans will be rushing out to buy chocolate ahead of Mother’s Day this Sunday — but a watchdog is warning many brands are laced with toxic heavy metals.

Consumer Reports warned Americans looking to gift their moms dark chocolate this year that unsafe levels of lead and cadmium are lurking in some of the most popular brands. 

The warning comes on the back of research carried out by the group last year that found 28 popular dark chocolates had levels of both types of heavy metal beyond levels deemed safe. 

Cadmium, which seeps into cocao beans as they grow and lead, which is a byproduct of drying beans once they’re harvested, have been linked to developmental delays, cancers, and organ failure.  

Brian Ronholm, director of food policy for CR said: ‘Moms across the country will be showered with gifts on Mother’s Day and for many that includes dark chocolate, a popular favorite.

‘Consumers should be aware that many dark chocolate products contain high levels of heavy metals that have been linked to a host of health problems in children and adults.’ 

CR found in product testing that Hershey’s was the biggest offender, with one of its dark chocolate bars having the highest lead content out of 28 total products and others containing high levels of cadmium.

The organization found that 23 of the 28 bars tested contained lead levels up to two-and-a-half times the standard threshold. Levels of cadmium were up to three times higher. 

Hershey’s has come under pressure lately to reduce contamination with cadmium, which cacao plants take up from the soil in which they grow, and lead, which seems to contaminate beans after they’ve been harvested and dried.

Lily’s Extremely Dark Chocolate 85 percent cocoa, which is owned by Hershey’s, was among five bars CR tested that had high levels of both lead and cadmium, while Hershey’s Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate had the highest level of lead of any of the bars tested. And the Scharffen Berger Extra Dark Chocolate 82 percent Cacao bar, also owned by Hershey’s, was one of the bars with the highest levels of cadmium in CR’s tests.

Mr Ronholm said: ‘Our tests found that it’s possible to make dark chocolate products with lower levels of heavy metals that are safer for consumers. As a leading and popular brand of chocolate, we urge Hershey’s to protect consumers from the dark side of dark chocolate by reducing the level of heavy metals in its products.’

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.

The amounts of metals in chocolate bars are not high enough to be immediately life-threatening and a person would need to consume at least a bar a day to suffer severe long-term harm as a result.

To determine whether the products contained dangerous levels, the nonprofit measured them against standards set by 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.

Exposure to small doses of cadmium in food over a long period of time can also contribute to kidney failure and weak bones. Cadmium is most often carcinogenic when inhaled in the air and is a byproduct of cigarette smoke.

Lead is well-known to be dangerous to humans, causing memory loss, abdominal pain, and low mood in adults after long-term exposure. 

Even low levels of lead exposure can cause a range of health problems including shortened attention span and a host of learning disorders, cardiovascular and respiratory problems, lower IQ, slowed growth in children, and, in higher concentrations, seizures, permanent nerve and brain damage, and death.

While dark chocolate has been lauded for its health benefits, from promoting heart health to packing a heavy punch of antioxidants, the CR report suggests that leading chocolate makers are failing to ensure that their products are safe before they leave the factory.

Cadmium is naturally in soil with the metal accumulating in cacao beans as the tree grows.

Lead, meanwhile, was not found inside the cacao beans themselves but rather on the outer shells. Lead levels were low soon after beans were picked and removed from their pods but increased as beans dried in the sun for days while lead-filled dust and dirt accumulated on the beans.