Spilling The Green Tea

It’s that time of year….time when kids go door to door asking for candy and families giving out candy to eager trick or treaters. From drugstores to big box stores, you will find aisles dedicated to bags and boxes of candy. The packaging on these products are made so that it catches your eye and, most importantly, your child’s eyes. Whether you like sweet or salty or sour or bitter, there is an option for everyone to satisfy their sugar cravings. Diabetics…..stay clear!

I don’t have to give a lecture about how bad sugar is for your body. We already know that. I, for one, believe moderation is key so I won’t say I totally steer clear of sugar. I am guilty of loving the taste of chocolate whether it in in the form of a bar, baked in a brownie or a syrup in my coffee. Chocolate stimulates your brain to release endorphins, your “feel good” chemicals. No wonder we feel better after tasting chocolate; it’s the high without the side effects!

However, there was an article on the Daily Mail warning about the levels of toxic metals, linked to cancer and developmental delays, found in chocolates.

Chocolate? Really? Is there anything safe to eat anymore?

We know about the insecticides and pesticides on our fruits and veggies. We know about the antibiotics and growth hormones in our meats and dairy. We know about toxic metals found in flour used in breads. But now chocolate??

Per Consumer Reports: 16 of the 48 chocolates tested, a third, had high levels of cadmium and lead. The remaining 32 chocolates also tested positive for cadmium and lead but were not as severe as those 16.

The culprits for Hot Chocolates/Cocoa Powders (worst in bold):

• Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Chocolate Mix
• Starbucks Hot Cocoa Classic
• Great Value Milk Chocolate Flavor Hot Cocoa Mix
• Nestle’s Rick Milk Chocolate Flavor Hot Cocoa Mix
• Hershey’s Coca Naturally Unsweetened Cacao
• Droste Cacao Powder
• Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate
• Ghiradelli Premium Hot Cocoa Mix
• Nestle Milk Chocolate Mix
• Nestle Toll House Cocoa
• 365 Organic Cacao Powder
• Navita’s Cacao Powder

The culprits for Milk Chocolate Bars (worst in bold):

• Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar
• 365 Organic Milk Chocolate
• Mr. Beast Milk Chocolate Bar
• Lindt Milk Chocolate
• Chocolove Milk Chocolate Bar

The culprits for Dark Chocolate Bars (worst in bold):

• Divine Dark Chocolate
• Divine Smooth Dark Chocolate
• Evolved Signature Dark 72% Cacao
• Perugina 70% Cacao
• Perugina 85 Cacao
• Sam’s Choice 72% Cacao
• Sam’s Choice 85% Cacao

The culprits for Chocolate Chips (worst in bold):

• Target Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• Enjoy Life Mini Chips
• Nestle Tollhouse Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• Lily’s Baking Chips
• 365 Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• Trader Joe’s Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• HU Baking Chips
• Hershey’s Dark Baking Chips
• Kirkland Chocolate Chips
• Guittard Chocolate Chips
• Great Value Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• Ghirardelli Cacao Chips

The culprits for Brownie Mixes (worst in bold):

• Annie’s Organic Brownie Mix
• Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Mix
• Krusteaz Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Mix
• Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Mix
• Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie Mix

The culprits for Cake Mixes (worst in bold):

• Pillsbury Devils Food
• Great Value Devil’s Food
• Duncan Hines Devils Food
• Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Fudge
• Simple Mills Chocolate Muffin and Cake Mix
• Bob’s Red Mill Cake Mix

Remember ALL of the above tested positive for some traces of lead and/or cadmium, but the ones in bold tested the highest.

It is important to know that there is no federal law in place regarding ingesting toxic metals, so for Consumer Reports to compare the percentages of toxic metals found in chocolate, they used the guideline of the safe level recommended in California which is no more than 0.5 micrograms of lead per day and no more than 4.1 micrograms of cadmium per day.

No federal law? Our government saying it is still ok to inject metals as long as they are below a certain number? How did they get that said number? Are we really surprised?

Now you may be asking how and why do these chocolate products contain toxic metals? Consumer Reports has stated:

“Research indicates that lead and cadmium get into cocoa in different ways. For cadmium, it appears that the cocoa plant takes it up from the soil. Lead, however, can be deposited on the cocoa beans after harvest, potentially from dust and soil as beans dry outdoors. These metals are both found in the cocoa solids—which, along with cocoa butter, make up cacao. That’s why products rich in cocoa solids, such as dark chocolate and cocoa powder, tend to be higher in heavy metals.”

It is imperative to always be educated when it comes to anything that can directly affect our health; especially anything we ingest whether it is food, water or environmental.

I am sure there will be quite a few chocolate bars in your kids’ trick or treat baskets so please be mindful on how much they can eat, especially knowing what Consumer Reports has reported.

Maybe that quirky neighbor who gives out carrot sticks or an apple in place of candy at Halloween isn’t really quirky at all….just trying to keep children healthy!