Heavy metals found in dark chocolate. Is it a cause of concern?

Chocolate lovers, take note: Your favourite treats could be tainted with lead and other hazardous heavy metals, which may lead to serious health issues over time.

A new study, published on Wednesday in Frontiers in Nutrition, has found that numerous popular chocolates from both the US and Europe contain levels of heavy metals that surpass the limits set by California’s Proposition 65, one of the strictest chemical regulations in the country.

Researchers from George Washington University examined over 70 dark chocolate products from major retailers like Whole Foods Market, Amazon, and GNC, spanning over an eight-year period from 2014 to 2022. Their findings revealed that 43 per cent of these products contained lead above the allowable limit, while 35 per cent exceeded the safe levels for cadmium.

Now, are you thinking of switching to organic chocolate and cocoa to protect yourself?

Well, think again because the Washington team found products labelled organic to have higher levels of both lead and cadmium compared to non-organic products.

So, is it time for you to say goodbye to your favourite dark chocolate? Here’s what the researchers say

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How do heavy metals end up in your chocolate?**

Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel at As You Sow, a nonprofit that produced an investigative report on heavy metals in chocolate in 2022, explained to USA Today that these metals enter chocolate through the cocoa bean. Cadmium, for instance, is absorbed from the soil by cocoa plants and ends up in their beans.

“It’s a naturally occurring metal,” noted Ana M. Rule, assistant professor and director of the Exposure Assessment Laboratories at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who was not involved in the study. “But just because they’re naturally occurring doesn’t mean they’re safe.”

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Lead, however, can be introduced at various stages of chocolate production, including during the harvesting, drying, and fermenting of cocoa beans, which are crucial for making dark chocolates.

California guidelines set the maximum allowable limit for heavy metals in foods at 0.5 micrograms per day. The study estimated daily exposure based on the recommended serving sizes on chocolate product labels and found that chocolate samples ranged from 0 to 3.316 micrograms per serving. Cadmium levels varied from 0.29 to 14.12 micrograms, with the safety threshold set at 4.1 micrograms per day.

What about milk and organic chocolates?

Milk chocolates generally contain lower levels of heavy metals than dark chocolates, primarily because they use less cocoa. However, the study’s authors were surprised to find that organic chocolates had higher levels of heavy metals compared to more processed varieties.

“Organic food doesn’t necessarily mean it’s been tested for toxic metals like lead, cadmium, and arsenic,” Manish Arora, vice chairman of the department of environmental medicine and climate science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told NBC News. “To most people, ‘organic’ implies cleaner, but in this case, it’s counterintuitive.”

Leigh Frame, co-author of the study and director of integrative medicine at George Washington University, suggested that the higher metal content in organic chocolates might be due to the reduced processing involved in their production. Additionally, organic chocolate producers often source cocoa from single regions, and they are more likely to have higher metal levels than those made from cocoa beans collected from various locations worldwide.

The health risks

Experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) warn that exposure to heavy metals such as lead and cadmium poses significant risks for severe mental disorders and physical diseases.

Lead, in particular, has detrimental effects on nearly every bodily system and poses a severe threat to children’s health. At high levels of acute exposure, lead can severely damage the central nervous system, leading to symptoms like unconsciousness, convulsions, and even death. Additionally, lead is linked to dyslexia, a learning difficulty affecting reading and writing skills.

The WHO estimates that lead contributes to around 600,000 new cases of intellectual impairment in children each year, resulting in approximately 143,000 deaths or 0.6 per cent of the global disease burden. There is no safe level of lead, especially for children.

Cadmium, on the other hand, is classified as a carcinogen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and can cause severe gastrointestinal issues, including vomiting and diarrhoea, when consumed in large amounts.

Chronic exposure to cadmium can also damage the lungs and lead to fatal outcomes. Over time, even small amounts of cadmium from food, drink, air, and tobacco smoke can accumulate in the body, causing renal disease and weakened bones.

So, should we consume dark chocolates?

While the high levels of metals in chocolate are concerning, consumers needn’t cut this scrumptious staple from their diet, Frame told USA Today.

“You actually cannot avoid exposure to heavy metals in the diet,” Frame told NBC News. “It’s really not about avoiding them; it’s about making sure you’re not getting too much.”

Tewodros Godebo, an assistant professor of environmental geochemistry at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans who authored a similar study said that indulging in 1 ounce (28 gms) of dark chocolate now and again is no problem for healthy adults (who are not pregnant). What is important is moderation and avoiding exposure to high-lead content products.

“I would not want someone to be afraid of chocolate. That would be the worst thing that could come out of the study to me,” Frame told The Washington Post. “Frankly, it’s a small contributor to our diet.”

With input from agencies