The boy with the machete is watching us. We’re sitting in an SUV in the middle of a rugged, red-dirt road about 10 miles outside the city of Abengourou, in eastern Ivory Coast. It’s just after 8 a.m. on a Saturday, and the early morning haze hasn’t yet burned off, so a mist hangs over the fields around us. We’ve been slowly bumping along on our way to meet some farmers in a nearby village called Appoisso but stop for a moment to take in the scene. Suddenly the boy is standing right next to us. He looks curious, but wary too.

It's more fearmongering for attention, and, ultimately, probablyn driven by a laywer who's looking for business.  Likely in california.  They claim that 'no one knows how they got there' - which is simply wrong. it's been understood for decades where the trace heavy metals comes from, and it happens with literally all crops that are grown in the vocanic soils.

Edited to add - a little information is a dangerous thing, and if it's not driven by a lawyer looking to create an environment where he can create litigation, if they are ultimately successful in legislating the warnings they feel are needed, chocolate companies will likely cease commercial activities in California.  The list of companies they had tested shows a pretty fundamental lack of understanding of the supply chain, as many of those companies aren't making their own chocolate.

updated by @sebastian: 02/29/16 04:59:24

More press: http://www.healthnutnews.com/lead-cadmium-found-in-chocolate-is-anything-safe-anymore/ 

Thoughts? 

updated by @eg: 02/28/16 12:21:31

I have issues with any group that promotes itself thusly:

As You Sow is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building,  and innovative legal strategies .

Here's more info on their web site and read the full release:

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updated by @clay: 03/11/17 17:51:05

I'm going to call BS.  They tested 3 batches (no details on the statistical rigor or methodology), and picked a small company that's owned by Warren Buffet.  I'm not sure i trust that their motives are pure as the winter snow.

And there's not that technology.  What will happen, if they persist with this line of consideration, is that major manufacturers will simply not ship to the state of California.  It's happened before.

Non-profit As You Sow notified the three firms after testing showed that traces of lead and cadmium in some of the companies' products, including ones from the Scharffen Berger (Hershey), Dove (Mars) and See's (Extra Dark Chocolate). 

Allegedly, the products identified contain lead or cadmium above the single-serving safe harbor level for reproductive harm (or maximum daily allowable dose, MADL) and must be labeled as according to guidelines set forth in California's Prop 65. The article goes on to state specifically that the lead and cadmium are naturally-occuring and are not added during manufacturing processes.

As You Sow also notified more than a dozen other companies for allegedly failing to label heavy metal content properly, including Godiva, Ghirardelli, Lindt, Lake Champlain, Moonstruck, Theo, Trader Joe's Whole Foods, and Vosges.

What the suit fails to recognize is that many of the companies they are do not actually manufacture chocolate.

As You Sow asks that "manufacturers remove the heavy metals from their chocolate products altogether." Is there even technology that can do that?

Read the full article in ConfectioneryNews.com.

 

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updated by @clay: 12/13/24 12:16:07