Cadmium in Chocolate

We don’t see that the newly-issued report is less flawed than the previous, so I think it’s appropriate to re-post our earlier comments.

IN DECEMBER last year a certain consumer review magazine presented a report highlighting concerns about the presence of the cadmium in chocolate, causing significant concern in our customers and other fine chocolate consumers. In my opinion, the article was poorly researched and omitted important relevant knowledge and information.

Origin and History

Cadmium was distributed into soils through volcanic activity, often thousands or tens of thousands of years ago, where it is now absorbed by much of the natural foliage. In the case of cacao, it concentrates in the leaves and seeds.[1,2] This is not a new issue: cadmium in chocolate consumed by Aztec Emperor Moctezuma in the year 1510 was probably similar to what is consumed today.

Cadmium Absorption in Humans

The food groups that contributed most to Cd intake were cereals and bread (34%), leafy vegetables (20%), potatoes (11%), legumes and nuts (7%), and stem/root vegetables (6%).
Kim, et al

It has been demonstrated that we obtain most of our cadmium from cereals and bread, leafy vegetables, potatoes, legumes and nuts, and stem and root vegetables rather than from chocolate, which is not a significant contributor to overall cadmium in the typical American diet.[3,5]

Neither the FDA nor CDC has determined specific safe “Minimal Risk Levels” for cadmium in food.[5]The FDA has not set limits on safe levels of cadmium in food except to say that toddlers and infants should have no exposure. According to research by Wayne Labs, “California’s Prop 65 sets a limit of 4.1 micrograms (µg )/day, which is known to cause reproductive toxicity.” They go on to note that a later report by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, Reproductive and Cancer Hazard Assessment Section, suggested that “Exposure at a level 1,000 times greater than the MADL is expected to have no observable effect.”[4] John Nancy of ChocolateAlchemy provides an in-depth analysis of lead and cadmium measurement on the ChocolateAlchemy website, if you’re interested.[8]

In addition, there’s evidence that other factors influence the amount of cadmium your body absorbs from a given food. Intake of Vitamin C as well as maintenance of healthy iron stores, for example have been demonstrated to reduce cadmium absorption.[6,7]

The only accurate method for assessing your own cadmium levels is a blood serum test, and the chocolate folk I’ve come across who’ve done so tend to show very low cadmium levels. But I’m a scientist and chocolatier, not a doctor, so use your own diligence.