Chocolate is popular almost everywhere. But tastes vary depending on the continent. While some regions like their chocolate sugary sweet, others prefer more fruity or nutty notes.
I was all about Tony’s until it came out it’s high in lead and cadmium. Ghirardelli is the only easy to buy brand for me that isn’t high in lead or cadmium.
It’s not as safe as other chocolates that have significantly less lead and cadmium. Furthermore, in some cases the contamination comes from the processing machinery, not the soil, so it completely under their control to immediately eliminate it. Yet they didn’t say they planned to address the problem. They could also begin the process of eliminating cadmium by replanting on uncontaminated soil.
Annoyingly, instead of saying they were going to address the problem, Tony’s response was “it’s in the soil” and CR used “California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)” standards. Which ignores that their chocolate is still higher in lead than some other brands.
Furthermore they aim for only working with slave free cocoa plantations. So they are limited in who they can buy from. Those two things together probably don’t leave a lot of possible sources of cocoa.
I was all about Tony’s until it came out it’s high in lead and cadmium. Ghirardelli is the only easy to buy brand for me that isn’t high in lead or cadmium.
There’s an update that came out at the start of this year. You can find it here.
Long story short - it’s as safe as any other dark chocolate on the market.
It’s not as safe as other chocolates that have significantly less lead and cadmium. Furthermore, in some cases the contamination comes from the processing machinery, not the soil, so it completely under their control to immediately eliminate it. Yet they didn’t say they planned to address the problem. They could also begin the process of eliminating cadmium by replanting on uncontaminated soil.
https://tonyschocolonely.com/blogs/other/a-small-update-on-health-and-safety-and-heavy-metals
Do you have a source for this?
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/
Annoyingly, instead of saying they were going to address the problem, Tony’s response was “it’s in the soil” and CR used “California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)” standards. Which ignores that their chocolate is still higher in lead than some other brands.
https://tonyschocolonely.com/blogs/other/a-small-update-on-health-and-safety-and-heavy-metals
But what do you want them to do? It is literally in the soil and cocoa plants are accumulators for heavy metals.
Furthermore they aim for only working with slave free cocoa plantations. So they are limited in who they can buy from. Those two things together probably don’t leave a lot of possible sources of cocoa.
Apples and rice in the US were found to be contaminated with arsenic from the soil. Farms are moved, soil is treated, processing is changed.
Here what can be done for Chocolate:
https://www.asyousow.org/blog/2022/8/17/new-report-explains-simple-safe-and-low-cost-solutions-to-reduce-levels-of-lead-and-cadmium-in-chocolate
Some brands of chocolate do not have high lead. It’s not a necessary part of chocolate production.
Thanks for that link, didn’t know that lead is mostly from human sources.
I assume it’s referring to this article. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2022/12/16/23-of-28-dark-chocolate-bars-tested-have-high-lead-cadmium-levels/