Good point and good question. Honestly lead would be a much greater concern (consumption of lead has strong ties to health issues) but we've very rarely detected any level of lead in our cocoa and certainly not high levels, so we aren't as focused on it.
People get suspicious about metals in dark chocolate but they don't question all the harmful chemicals and shady ingredients in fast food, highly processed foods.🙄
I love Dandelion chocolate. I first found it at the SF airport. Last year I found it at Oxbow market in Napa. Recently, I found it at the Venetian resort in Las Vegas. Lets just say, I buy it whenever I see it. At the price of Dandelion chocolate, I doubt I will ever eat enough chocolate to have any toxicity 😂😂😂
While the cadmium is in the soil, mostly around volcano areas, the lead is usually in the containers, air and handling, which is a problem fixable by people. And knowing this, there is actions to try and solve this problem. As for cadmium, there are ways to flush that out of your system. Cilantro and vitamin C is two of them. Google for more!😊 Also, TAZA chocolate is low and Ghirardelli is better, too. However, it can take up to a couple months to do this. CAROB, the chocolate alternative doesn't contain the metals, has the health benefits of regular chocolate, safe for dogs and people with chocolate allergies. That's good news!❤
Some brands have lower amounts of lead and cadmium and hence are better choices. Such as some dark chocolate products from: Ghirardelli, Mast, Taza and Valrhona (Abinao 85%). These are not easy to get in the UK though, apart from the latter. Not sure about Hu or Montezuma. However, both have published details stating that the levels in their products are acceptable according to EU standards - yet those levels are still very high. The bog standard dark chocolates in the large supermarket chains may have larger amounts.
If as the CR article states that avoiding the beans exposed to the outer shell is a way to dramatically reduce the lead count, then why isn't this put into practice? (cadmium aside)
I think hydroponics is the only available option if zero-tolerance is the goal but the flavor/aroma is soil-dependent as in good grapes. Chocolate has something like 400 aromatic compounds vs 200 for wine, so soils/mineral levels are crucial to final chocolate taste. According to chatGPT, rice can have equal or more cadmium than cacao (0.3micrograms/g) and equivalent lead (0.1 micrograms/g) amounts as it is good at uptaking heavy metals.
Looking at the reports it would appear that the chocolates reported as safe are mostly the ones with fillers such as sugar. What then is the dioxin level in those brands? I suspect there are tradeoffs.
As Cacao (not Cocoa) producer and chocolatier in Costa Rica I know that Cadmium and Lead can be found in quantities higher than the maximum levels accepted in some brands of Dark Chocolate. Even so, I am happy to say that none of them are related in any way from Costa Rican grown bean to bar brands. Understanding the issue: Another way of look at the quantities accepted is: 0.30 mg per kilo of Dark chocolate, take into account that a real, correctly named Dark chocolate are those chocolate bars from 65% to 100%.
There's a lot of ways to get rid of heavy metals inside your body (lead, cadmium...). If you really worry about you can just get cocoa flavonoids but just thinking the benefits and the marvelous taste I wouldn't give up those 100% ones 😂. Maybe I'll choose the tested chocolates in the future but does it really matter? I'm on healthy keto and doing 18+6 fasting always like I said there's heaps of ways to help you clean your body.
Chocolate is very weird chemically, has anyone checked the bioavailability of cadmium from food sources? Should be easy to test with a few willing volunteers. Cadmium, like many heavy metals, forms insoluble compounds with sulphur. This means it will also bind to some proteins. Fermentation often produces sulphides and sulphur compounds. Off-topic, have you tried making chocolate from dandelion roots? Some dandelion coffee is quite tasty, all depending on the roast. You could do a special Dandelion dandelion chocolate. Perhaps not just dandelion but a blend.
While it could be the case, we've tested bean and chocolate and it doesn't go up from the beans to the chocolate, which means it is likely not added during the chocolate making process!
Thanks for this! What about lead in chocolate? That seems like a much greater concern than cadmium.
Good point and good question. Honestly lead would be a much greater concern (consumption of lead has strong ties to health issues) but we've very rarely detected any level of lead in our cocoa and certainly not high levels, so we aren't as focused on it.
Really, that's what I was thinking. Send like what I heard though is that somehow the cacao gets contaminated with lead, it's not in the cacao itself.
California propositions! Written by lawyers? Hmmmm. Sounds like they are looking for more people to sue.
This video was a lot of work! Well done 👍👍
People get suspicious about metals in dark chocolate but they don't question all the harmful chemicals and shady ingredients in fast food, highly processed foods.🙄
Since they found out that drinking dark chocolate twice a day can increase stem cells they suddenly have a problem with chocolate.
I prefer arsenic in my chicken.
As a new mom who ate small amounts of chocolate daily through out pregnancy and while breastfeeding, you’ve helped lower my anxiety.
I love Dandelion chocolate. I first found it at the SF airport. Last year I found it at Oxbow market in Napa. Recently, I found it at the Venetian resort in Las Vegas. Lets just say, I buy it whenever I see it. At the price of Dandelion chocolate, I doubt I will ever eat enough chocolate to have any toxicity 😂😂😂
The name Cadbury sure hits different now lol
That's exactly what I was thinking 🤔
This is why I play it safe and stick with Snickers.
Nice one
What about Lead, the study also mentions Lead?
Could you also talk about lead in chocolate? Thank you~
While the cadmium is in the soil, mostly around volcano areas, the lead is usually in the containers, air and handling, which is a problem fixable by people. And knowing this, there is actions to try and solve this problem. As for cadmium, there are ways to flush that out of your system. Cilantro and vitamin C is two of them. Google for more!😊 Also, TAZA chocolate is low and Ghirardelli is better, too. However, it can take up to a couple months to do this. CAROB, the chocolate alternative doesn't contain the metals, has the health benefits of regular chocolate, safe for dogs and people with chocolate allergies. That's good news!❤
Some brands have lower amounts of lead and cadmium and hence are better choices. Such as some dark chocolate products from: Ghirardelli, Mast, Taza and Valrhona (Abinao 85%). These are not easy to get in the UK though, apart from the latter.
Not sure about Hu or Montezuma. However, both have published details stating that the levels in their products are acceptable according to EU standards - yet those levels are still very high.
The bog standard dark chocolates in the large supermarket chains may have larger amounts.
Loved your honest, say it like it is approach.
If as the CR article states that avoiding the beans exposed to the outer shell is a way to dramatically reduce the lead count, then why isn't this put into practice? (cadmium aside)
yep! that was helpful, reasonable and well done. thanks
I think hydroponics is the only available option if zero-tolerance is the goal but the flavor/aroma is soil-dependent as in good grapes. Chocolate has something like 400 aromatic compounds vs 200 for wine, so soils/mineral levels are crucial to final chocolate taste. According to chatGPT, rice can have equal or more cadmium than cacao (0.3micrograms/g) and equivalent lead (0.1 micrograms/g) amounts as it is good at uptaking heavy metals.
Looking at the reports it would appear that the chocolates reported as safe are mostly the ones with fillers such as sugar. What then is the dioxin level in those brands? I suspect there are tradeoffs.
great information thank you greg and craft chocolate tv
As Cacao (not Cocoa) producer and chocolatier in Costa Rica I know that Cadmium and Lead can be found in quantities higher than the maximum levels accepted in some brands of Dark Chocolate. Even so, I am happy to say that none of them are related in any way from Costa Rican grown bean to bar brands.
Understanding the issue: Another way of look at the quantities accepted is: 0.30 mg per kilo of Dark chocolate, take into account that a real, correctly named Dark chocolate are those chocolate bars from 65% to 100%.
Thx
Very informative. Thank you!
There's a lot of ways to get rid of heavy metals inside your body (lead, cadmium...). If you really worry about you can just get cocoa flavonoids but just thinking the benefits and the marvelous taste I wouldn't give up those 100% ones 😂. Maybe I'll choose the tested chocolates in the future but does it really matter? I'm on healthy keto and doing 18+6 fasting always like I said there's heaps of ways to help you clean your body.
Thank you for your helpful info on this matter
how about lead?
This was excellent info! Thank you!
Thanks Greg!
Thank you for this information. As a cocoa beans dealer how can I find out cadmium in my stock?
You can send beans to a lab for cadmium / lead testing, it should cost in the range of $50/sample. Where are you located?
I’m in London but my stock is in Nigeria, Africa
Good video and great information.
great content! Thanks for providing this information!
You all are A+
I love this guy.
❤
You didn't even mention lead on cocoa.
0:03 Did you just FART while recording?? Wow! That's what you call "keeping a stiff upper lip".
Won't the cadmium stick to the mercury in my teeth?
Chocolate is very weird chemically, has anyone checked the bioavailability of cadmium from food sources? Should be easy to test with a few willing volunteers. Cadmium, like many heavy metals, forms insoluble compounds with sulphur. This means it will also bind to some proteins. Fermentation often produces sulphides and sulphur compounds.
Off-topic, have you tried making chocolate from dandelion roots? Some dandelion coffee is quite tasty, all depending on the roast. You could do a special Dandelion dandelion chocolate. Perhaps not just dandelion but a blend.
Making "chocolate" with dandelion roots would not, by definition, be chocolate!
@@jessicaferraro4114 See the word "blend" I used in the jocular sentence "Perhaps not just dandelion but a blend."
Valentines Day , may look a little different this year :(
I suspect a lot of it comes from the stones in the conching? machines.
While it could be the case, we've tested bean and chocolate and it doesn't go up from the beans to the chocolate, which means it is likely not added during the chocolate making process!