NEW YORK (Reuters) -Consumer Reports said on Wednesday it had found “concerning” levels of lead and cadmium in a third of various chocolate products it tested recently, and called on Hershey to reduce the amounts of heavy metals in its chocolate.
The non-profit consumer group said 16 of the 48 products from various makers that its scientists tested contained potentially harmful levels of lead, cadmium or both.
Consumer Reports tested products in seven categories: dark chocolate bars, milk chocolate bars, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and mixes for brownies, chocolate cake and hot chocolate.
Products found to contain excessive metal content included a dark chocolate bar and hot chocolate mix from Walmart, cocoa powder from Hershey’s and Droste, semi-sweet chocolate chips from Target, and hot chocolate mixes from Trader Joe’s, Nestle and Starbucks.