A publication in Front. Nutr., 30 July 2024 Volume 11 - 2024 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2024.1366231 reports on the analysis of contamination of consumer cocoa-containing products such as dark chocolate with heavy metals, including lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As). The precise level of contamination and the clinical implications of this contamination for domestic dark chocolate and cocoa-containing products are largely unexplored in the literature. The study reports the concentrations of Pb, Cd, and As for 72 popular cocoa-containing consumer products (e.g., dark chocolate) sampled for eight years. The analysis results suggest that many products contain Pb and Cd in amounts that may exceed certain, stringent regulatory requirements (Prop 65). Our analysis reports that 43, 35, and 0% of the products tested exceed Prop 65 MADLs for heavy metal concentrations, respectively, of Pb, Cd, and As, while 97.2% (70 of 72) fall below US FDA IRL limits established. This indicates that heavy metal contamination—in more than half of products tested—may not pose any appreciable risk for the average person when consumed as a single serving.; however, consuming some of the products tested, or more than one serving per day in combination with non-cocoa derived sources of heavy metals, may add up to exposure that would exceed the Prop 65 MADLs. Notably, “organic” products were significantly more likely to demonstrate higher levels of both Cd and Pb. @ https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.1366231/full
