Lawsuits allege high levels of lead in General Mills’ Cocoa Puffs cereal

FirstCircle@lemmy.ml to News@lemmy.world – 181 points – Lawsuits allege high levels of lead in General Mills’ Cocoa Puffs cereal
seattletimes.com

Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!

25

This article didn't go into it, but here's a little background info from how some of these heavy metals end up in chocolate (at least):

The researchers found that cacao plants take up cadmium from the soil, with the metal accumulating in cacao beans as the tree grows. That’s similar to how heavy metals contaminate some other foods. 

But lead seems to get into cacao after beans are harvested. The researchers found that the metal was typically on the outer shell of the cocoa bean, not in the bean itself. Moreover, lead levels were low soon after beans were picked and removed from pods but increased as beans dried in the sun for days. During that time, lead-filled dust and dirt accumulated on the beans. “We collected beans on the ground that were heavily loaded with lead on the outer shell,” DiBartolomeis says.

https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/

I didn't read the link but from your quote i gather this means that I'm eating lead in a lot of chocolate products?

This is the worst

The link from my quote includes a breakdown of the different types of bars and how much was found in each, so I would compare the kind of chocolate you usually eat, the safest choices were:

Edit 2: Note this particular study was done on dark chocolate bars. Milk chocolate bars would be more diluted.

  • Mast - Organic Dark Chocolate\80% Cocoa

  • Taza Chocolate - Organic Deliciously Dark Chocolate\70% Cacao

  • Ghirardelli - Intense Dark Chocolate\86% Cacao

  • Ghirardelli - Intense Dark Chocolate Twilight Delight\72% Cacao

  • Valrhona - Abinao Dark Chocolate\85% Cacao

Even those contained small levels of both, so eating an entire bar all at once is probably not a good idea.

Also there are other foods that can have it:

It can be found in many other foods—such as sweet potatoes, spinach, and carrots—and small amounts from multiple sources can add up to dangerous levels. That’s why it’s important to limit exposure when you can.

https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/

Edit: comma after 'eat'

Lead makes things sweeter

Also this is the 2nd lead incident ive seen so far this week

To my knowledge, that is only lead acetate. If it was lead acetate that would be a obvious additive, however the article talks about how the metals are accumulated from the cocoa plants themselves through the soil.

The Ancient Romans used to put lead into their wine for this reason. Fun fact.

It's a good thing I only eat Cadmium Chocolate Creme Eggs around Easter time.

Milk chocolate for the win. Never liked dark that much anyway.