Heavy Metals in Chocolate & Why I still eat it
Raise your hand ifnyou love chocolate 🙋🏼‍♀️
I do to but there is an important reason not to eat chocolate in excess.. and its not related to weight gain
The fact is that, while chocolate has some health benefits, some chocolates can also be a source of a heavy metal called cadmium.
What is cadmium?
Too much cadmium (Cd) in our bodies is just as dangerous as lead as Both are heavy metals.
Cadmium can also cause kidney damage and affect the liver as it can accumulate in both organs.
Is cadmium regulated?
The EPA places maximum allowable levels of cadmium in drinking water as 5 parts per billion (ppb), but FDA has not set limits on safe levels of cadmium in food except to say that toddlers and infants should have no exposure at all.
California’s Prop 65 does set a limit of 4.1 micrograms (µg )/day, beyond which is known to cause reproductive toxicity in adults
Last year, the European Commission decreased the safety threshold of the amount of cadmium in processed chocolate in the region. The cadmium threshold is between 0.1 and 0.8 milligrams per kilogram of chocolate, depending on the type of chocolate.
(Dark chocolate, for instance, has a lower ceiling than milk chocolate. All chocolate imported to Europe have to comply with the limit)
Europe’s decision to place stricter cadmium limits on chocolate was based on research that showed even though cadmium exposure in adult non-smokers in the region is still below WHO’s upper limit, exposure through food in children reaches twice the safe limit…. Because food - not just chocolate- can be a source of heavy metal exposure …Babies and you g children are particularly vulnerable due to their smaller size and developing brains
How much cadmium is actually in chocolate?
Depends on the amount of cacao and the source of cacao
The darker the chocolate, generally the higher the level of cadmium : Generally, milk chocolate has ⬇️levels because it has less cacao, but for dark chocolate the cacao level can be 70-100% - which could mean a higher level of cadmium.
The amount of cadmium content in cacao beans also will depends on the location and soil conditions where the chocolate plant is grown, in fact cadmium in soil is how cacao plants absorb cadmium
Volcanic soils and soil in Latin America, for instance, can contain higher amounts of cadmium. Environmental pollution and excessive use of fertilisers can also contribute to ⬆️ cadmium levels
Testing
In 2017 a danish study tested 12 dark choc bars and all of them contained some level of cadmium.
“As you Sow” also tested in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and they also found that dark chocolate was more likely to contain higher levels of cadmium. 96 of the 127 chocolate products tested contain lead and/or cadmium above California’s MADLs( to see which brands they tested and the reaults click here)
Bottom line? I’m not telling you to stop eating Chocolate… I personally will continue enjoying chocolate
Why?
The reality is that most of us are capable of naturally detoxifying from a little heavy metals exposure. In fact, chocolate, when not consumed in excess, can actually be healthy for us. However, with children and while pregnant, it’s good to know what sources of heavy metals exist so that we can look at the big picture and make an educated decision on what our exposure levels will be…. Because Babies and children are particularly vulnerable due to their smaller size and developing brains.
While babies arent eating chocolate, children often are as are pregnant mamas. Again bc we are exposed to small amounts of heavy metals through many foods ( more on this in tomorrow’s post) its important to look at the big picture and avoid anything in excess
If you choose to eat a lot of chocolate or chocolate on a daily basis it’s worth contacting the manufacture of your favorite chocolate to ask if they have third party testing for heavy metals and so ask them to share those testing results with you.
Two companies I recommend:
@santabarbarachocolate
@altereco they meet European standards