In recent years, heavy metal exposure has become a more widespread concern. Unfortunately, they aren’t just a new health-conscious buzzword. Heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium, are metals with  relatively high densities that can cause various health issues when exposure is long-term. These conditions are often the result of heavy metal poisoning, which is the accumulation of heavy metals in toxic amounts in the soft tissues of the body. Top chocolate manufacturers have recently come under  fire for significant amounts of cadmium, nickel, and lead being found in their dark chocolate products, creating worry surrounding if processed chocolate is safe for regular consumption.

Don’t panic - you don’t need to give up all chocolate forever! The good news is that not all chocolate has heavy metal contamination. While dark chocolate is the biggest offender of heavy metal presence, very little milk chocolate has been found to be high in levels of cadmium and lead due to the differences in  harvesting and manufacturing practices. Even still, there are a few brands, including Fx Chocolate, that  work hard to ensure ingredient quality by putting it through multiple phases of heavy metal testing. At Fx Chocolate, transparency and education are important. We want to ensure our customers are educated about the risks involved with ingesting heavy metals and about the steps we take to test for these ingredients.

What the Research is Saying

Let’s break it down. Recent heavy metal contamination research by Consumer Reports measured high levels of cadmium, lead, and even nickel in 28 popular chocolate manufacturing brands. Certain brands even tested as high as 192-250% higher than the recommended amounts of exposure to cadmium or lead. This has caused concern for health experts, due to the potential for increasing instances of heavy metal poisoning in children and adults. Some of the risks involved with prolonged exposure include:

● GI-Related issues 

● Kidney & liver damage

● Heart issues 

● Developmental delays and neurological damage

● Anemia & Weakness

● Death

The research outlines 3 different categories of contamination levels (high lead, high cadmium, and low levels of both) and places different brands within a respective category based on the heavy metal levels that they contain.

How Worried Should You Be?

Being aware of heavy metal contamination in anything you ingest is always a great practice. While high  levels of heavy metals can be dangerous, experts are saying that chocolate can still be safe to eat. The Consumer Report research showed that several brands had much lower, safer levels of cadmium or lead in them, showing that there is a way to reduce contamination throughout the dark chocolate manufacturing process. Until companies opt to change their harvesting protocols, experts have offered tips on the safe consumption of chocolate, including treating dark chocolate as a rare treat, alternating dark chocolate with milk chocolate, or simply choosing brands with lower levels of heavy metals. 

How Do Heavy Metals Get in Dark Chocolate?

Heavy metal contamination can happen at multiple steps throughout the dark chocolate harvesting and manufacturing process. For cadmium, it is often a soil issue, where the cacao beans take up cadmium  from the soil as the beans and trees grow, storing them there. For lead, we see the contamination happening after the beans are harvested, where lead-filled dust collects on the outer shell of the bean. These findings suggest a need for a shift in the way that corporations engage in the harvesting and  processing of their cacao beans, with each type of metal warranting a different solution. Top brands are being pressed to find better, cleaner ways of producing their chocolates to make them safer to consume regularly. 

The Fx Chocolate Difference

When it comes to heavy metals, Fx Chocolate plays it extra safe. We use only the highest standards in  the Fx Chocolate manufacturing and harvesting processes. We only use small batch cacao from independent farms, where the harvesting process is simpler and cleaner, cutting out those pesky heavy metals. Fx Chocolate is also double-tested to ensure a high quality of ingredients for our customers. We’ve got the best in the game, with professionals in the chocolatier and health industries formulating our bars. If you follow a specific diet - no problem! In addition to being thoroughly tested to ensure high-quality ingredients, our chocolate is dairy-free, gluten-free, and contains 0g of sugar, making it one of the healthiest options on the market. 

Fx Chocolate makes it easy for you to nourish your body with vitamins and nutrients, all while hitting your sweet tooth, hassle-free. You don’t have to worry about your chocolate - or anything else for that matter (besides what should be there). With the assurance that your chocolate is safe, tasty, and beneficial for your day-to-day goals, our chocolate supplements are made to work for you. Take a deeper dive into the quality ingredients that are used with the Fx Chocolate ingredient glossary.