The following is from The Defender.
Testing in 2023 by Consumer Reports found one-third of the chocolate products they tested were high in heavy metals.
These are naturally occurring elements in the environment that are five times denser than water and have multiple applications in industry, agriculture, medicine and technology.
However, wide usage has raised concerns over the health effects heavy metals have on humans and the environment.
Lead, chromium, cadmium, arsenic and mercury are among the metals identified as having public health significance since they are known to trigger organ damage even at low levels of exposure.
These same heavy metals are also “known” or “probable” human carcinogens.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, heavy metals are toxic metals that are known to negatively affect human health. They can bioaccumulate to become a significant health hazard. Cadmium is an extremely toxic metal used in industrial workplaces.
Consumer Reports tested a variety of chocolate candies and powders, including dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate chips, cocoa powder and brownie, cake and hot chocolate mixes.
This was a follow-up from testing in 2022 on dark chocolate, in which they tested 28 bars from different companies for lead and cadmium.
In the 2022 and 2023 tests, researchers used California’s maximum allowable dose level for heavy metal tested since as Consumer Reports noted there are no federal limits for lead or cadmium in food and the researchers believed that California’s standards are currently the most protective available.
The California standards limit consumption to 0.5 micrograms per day of lead and 4.1 micrograms per day of cadmium.
Consumer Reports notes that the tests were not an assessment of whether a particular chocolate exceeded California’s legal standards, but the California standards were used to indicate products that had a comparatively higher level of heavy metals.
Of the 28 dark chocolate bars tested in 2022 for lead and cadmium, only five had levels that were below 100% of the maximum allowable dose level for lead and cadmium assuming a 1-ounce serving size.
There were eight that were high in cadmium, 10 that were high in lead and five that were high and lead and cadmium.
There are two main components in chocolate from the cacao bean. These are cocoa solids and cocoa butter, which together are called cacao or cocoa.
Dark chocolate tends to be higher in heavy metal contamination than milk chocolate because it has a higher cacao content, which is more likely to be contaminated with cadmium and lead.
In 2023, Consumer Reports sought to determine whether other cacao-containing foods had the same risk. They tested 48 different chocolate products across seven categories and added several dark chocolate bars to confirm their previous results.
They used products from name brands like Nestle, Ghirardelli and Hershey’s and bought them from national retailers like Whole Foods, Target, Costco and Trader Joe’s.
As in the previous tests, the dark chocolate had higher levels of heavy metal than the milk chocolate.
However, James E. Rogers, Ph.D., director and acting head of product safety testing also noted that every product had detectable amounts of lead and cadmium and 16 had concerning levels of at least one metal, and in some cases, more than twice the limit.
The results of the testing revealed high levels of lead and cadmium in several of the dark chocolate bars, including 539% of the maximum allowed dose of lead in Perugina Extra Dark Chocolate Premium 85%.
None of the milk chocolate bars were over 100% of the levels for lead or cadmium and only two of the dark chocolate chips were over 100% of the allowed levels for lead.
(Continued…)
Read full article here.

The Lemonade Mermaid Store
Unique gifts for Land or Sea Mermaids, Mer-pets and Little Mermaids!
Left: Our signature Fish Scales design tote bag in Citrus
I’m sorry, but this is GARBAGE reporting, because — OBVIOUSLY — the one thing people would want to know after getting the fright info is which brands of chocolate to AVOID, and neither this article nor the article linked in this article provide that information.
This is so much NONSENSE that it qualifies as abusing readers.
William Bayer,
. . . and the highly
addictive
additive,
which a Harvard study revealed
to be as POWERFUL as HEROIN :
S U G A R
is
ignored !
Sharyl can’t cover all the bases;
and providing a list of safer brands
might invite a lawsuit.
-Rick
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/a-third-of-chocolate-products-are-high-in-heavy-metals-a4844566398/
Scroll down to see the brands,
THANKS! I don’t know why that information was left out of this article, since it’s obviously what anyone interested in this topic would want to know.
This article was like reading an article telling people that 20 popular automobiles blow up when you turn the ignition, and then not telling readers which automobiles explode.
Sometimes the idiocy of journalists is just astounding.
Eat, drink, and be merry. Lots of things will kill us before chocolate or climate change.
Mary,
“Lots of things will kill us”—such as
the F D A ?
Read my report, gleaned from
a book—about the CORRUPTION
therein :
https://sharylattkisson.com/2023/11/read-sen-ron-johnson-presses-health-agencies-for-info-on-covid-vaccine-injuries/#comment-177427
-Rick
P.S.
FDA Lies about Death-Dealing
Trans Fats—Still Being Used in
Fast Food and Restaurant Cooking ? :
https://healthimpactnews.com/2023/the-fda-has-not-banned-trans-fats-traditional-saturated-fats-like-coconut-oil-continue-to-shine-for-alzheimers-disease-but-condemned-by-u-s-dietary-advice/
Wow. Guess I’d better look this up! I hope they say HOW it got there! One thing I KNOW is true. Earrings that are silver colored and from China often contain cadmium, which is a cancer causer for some folks. Sterling is safer.
Something else I know for sure. Kids clothes (from China again), had lead paint on the cartoon characters or other designs on the front of T-shirts, for instance. Our bureaucrats finally noticed that (this was years ago) and forbid second hand stores to sell those (buttons also had lead) unless they had them tested by a lab, so the gal at the second hand store was totally out of used kids clothing and her customers were not happy….
Cowgirl46,
Every year, for the past
30 years, Red China’s
military has announced :
“We prepare for war with America.”
-while our VULTURE
CAPITALISTS help to
Aid/ARM her.
Do you believe Red China
isn’t taking every ( clever )
opportunity to harm us, via
product-sabotage ?
-Rick
P.S.
https://thecommonsenseshow.com/immigration/thousands-chicom-soldiers-crossing-california-sen-durbin-defends-move
P.S.
https://thecommonsenseshow.com/immigration/thousands-chicom-soldiers-crossing-california-sen-durbin-defends-move
Cowgirl46,
Every year, for the past
30 years, Red China’s
military has announced :
“We prepare for war with America.”
-while our VULTURE
CAPITALISTS help to
Aid/ARM her.
Do you believe Red China
isn’t taking every ( clever )
opportunity to harm us, via
product-sabotage ?
-Rick