I wanted to share the story below as a reminder to folks that we all do our best as parents, and still, things like this slip by. We should never panic. We cannot go back in time; we can only move forward and re-presence ourselves and our family to the science (a continually-evolving dataset) behind the concern — using science to illuminate the path forward. I still plan on writing a point-by-point response to Hu’s greenwashed response to customers (you can read their response here) — but now it’s going to be a whole lot more personal (and likely a bit, um, emotionally-tinged!). Stand by for that.
The photo below is my two youngest sons, one month ago
(November 17, 2022)
Avi (17) is on left, and Charlie (14) is on right
Saturday — December 17, 2022
As I was preparing to write a response to HU’s greenwashed public statements — dismissively downplaying the Consumer Reports (December 2022) findings of significant amounts of Lead in their dark chocolate products — I had a horrific epiphany…
I originally thought I had personally never seen or heard of this brand until the other day, when the Consumer Reports article came out (since I don’t buy much chocolate) — and I imagined (rather confidently) that I had certainly never eaten anything from this brand!
Then (late last night) I realized I might be wrong in that assumption…
The day I got home (10 days ago, on December 7, 2022) — after having been on the road for nearly two months — my husband presented me with a little (half-eaten) bag of chocolate “gems.” He shared that they were from this “amazing new brand” he had discovered, and were marketed as being “super-clean,” checking all of the right boxes for our family (dairy-free, cane-sugar-free, sustainably-sourced, etc.)
So I had a small handful… and then another. Between the four of us, what was left of this bag was gone in a flash and the next day my husband bought a second, larger bag — which (in spite of my efforts to hide it from the kids to limit chocolate consumption, as I always do) was also discovered by the kids (do your kids go through your dresser drawers without permission, too?) and shared with the whole family. Quickly, this second bag “disappeared,” too! It was only finally last night — right before I went to bed — that I connected the dots and realized (with a pained sigh and deeply-furrowed brow) it was the brand “HU Kitchen.” And not only was it this brand, but it was dark chocolate from this brand. Damn.
My son Avi (#3 of four sons) was acutely Lead-poisoned as a 7-month-old and has the double MTHFR gene mutation to boot (as discovered with testing from his western-medicine-focused sharp and thorough mainstream pediatrician — so not just some “woo” assumption)! Consequently, we have always been very careful about Avi’s diet. (He has self-selected an exceptionally nutritious, clean, and simple plant-based diet — plus he is inspiringly, consistently, thoughtful and intentional about everything he chooses to put into his body!)
He turned 17 almost a year ago (his birthday is January 29th) and for his birthday I got him a credit card. It’s the main credit card for the family (not his own account), but I got him one to have in his wallet for his own use, with his name on it. The goal was helping him be a little more independent and be able to purchase food for himself (especially when he was gone for long days at school [at PSU], and might need to get a quick lunch or dinner at one of the amazing foodcarts downtown — we have so many with delicious, organic, vegan food choices… because… Portland!).
For the past 6 months he hasn’t been in school (first it was summer break, and then we had our big trip out of town planned for October/ November/ December), so recently he has been mostly using the card every now and then to buy himself (and his brother) groceries at our neighborhood natural foods store whenever I ask him to. (This is a task I have assigned him to help me better focus on work these past six months — and as a bonus, the walk of a few blocks to the store is a great little regular social interactions/ independence/ confidence-building exercise for him and his bother!)
Avi is vegan, generally shuns processed foods — eats no cane sugar — and I give him the leeway to choose what he wants among the wide array of fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, and other healthy natural food products (including some few select packaged/ processed items) there that are organic and meet our other “healthy” standards (based on what I have taught him). But I don’t analyze or censor every single thing he buys. Said another way: I let him choose his own occasional treats.
So last night, when — after my concerned realization — I asked if he had ever eaten any HU chocolate other than the two little bags of “gems” that Dad shared with us when we got home from our trip, I was surprised when he said “Yes — I have bought maybe 5 or 6 of their [full-size] dark chocolate bars over the past 6 months.”
(OY!)
I explained that he should never do this again, and that we are not going to be eating any of their products — even occasionally. (Dad apparently knew about these purchases, and had just assumed it was “fine” — having been taken in by HU Kitchen’s highly-appealing packaging and marketing! But it had flown under my radar somehow, because I have been so busy!)
Last night Avi anxiously asked me, “am I now Lead-poisoned again — do I need to go to the doctor to get tested?!” My immediate reaction (this was around 11 p.m. last night!) was (in part since we had just gotten back from Europe where we ate very clean the entire time) no, he didn’t need to go to the doctor over this — but it wouldn’t hurt to increase dietary garlic consumption (in whatever form we can get it in him) and also increase organic fresh green juice consumption, while of course, continuing to eat healthy every day as we normally do (in addition to going back to being a little more strict about avoiding chocolate — especially dark chocolate, like Mommy normally does)!
Some additional, related links:
- Here’s my article about garlic — with links to the science behind Garlic as a good (medically proven) detox agent for heavy metals.
- Here’s my article about not panicking in situations like this, too.
- Here’s my piece with the graphic summarizing the chocolates tested by Consumer Reports (all 28 were found to be positive for Lead and Cadmium).
- Here’s a link to the piece I wrote in 2013 about the issue of Lead in Chocolate.
- Here’s Hu’s response to the findings of high levels of Lead in their chocolate.
- Here’s a private preview screener link to my film, which has a scene about Lead-contamination in chocolate that I shot in February of 2012.
Tamara Rubin
Mother of Lead-poisoned children
Owner — Lead Safe Mama, LLC
For those new to this website:
Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Since 2009, Tamara has been using XRF technology (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission) to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals — including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic). All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable. Items are tested multiple times to confirm the test results for each component tested. Tamara’s work was featured in Consumer Reports Magazine in February of 2023 (March 2023 print edition).
My sons have also been eating Hu chocolate – in their lunches a few times a week! They both have the double MTHFR genetic mutation. What a shame, I thought it was enough to check the ingredients list, organic, no cane sugar, etc. I’ve written to the company. Thank you for taking the time to comment on this!
I seem to have missed the point about the MTHFR gene connection :/ What is the relationship?
:'( This has been my go-to chocolate for awhile now, maybe a couple years, and I eat way too much, maybe 2 bars a week. :/
Is there an issue for the general population with cane sugar? Or is it just an issue for those with the double MTHFR genetic mutation?
Could you check Cadbury Milk Chocolate for me? My little kid eats tons of it.
I wish I was your son. I wish my parents had the same mindset as you. Here I’m doing everything in my power to keep away from poison products, but when it comes to educating my family on the matter, it’s like educating school children. I get my mother to buy organic plant-based dishwashing liquid, it runs out, then she forgets our little talk on toxic dishwashing liquid, then without me knowing, she goes and buys a toxic one from the supermarket. Same thing can be said when it comes to laundry detergent, fluoride toothpaste, canola oil-enriched butter, and homogenised milk.
If that’s not bad enough, my sister sees me as a fear monger, and has mummy on side most of the time in her delusional beliefs. The house is usually very quiet when I walk into the house to cook my one meal a day of organic vegetable lunches, probably because they fear what I will say next that reveals another toxic household product they are happily using.
Ignorance is bliss, you see. They both prefer to stay in deep denial of a toxic environment, and prefer to bury their heads in the sand where it’s safe. What’s worse, my sister has my mother addicted to using a genotoxic 4K Apple TV in both their bedrooms. They still keep forgetting to pull out the plug after watching their movies despite the huge arguments we’ve had in the past.
When it’s time to sit down to watch Netflix, my sister can’t help but manipulate my naive mother to eat all the toxic processed junk food with her. Don’t worry about the esophageal cancer that struck my 72-yr-old mother back in 2018. Praise be thy Lord, that I am cured, says my mother. Jesus does all my thinking for me, says my sister. If the man from Telstra says that Wi-Fi is safe, then you better believe that it’s safe. Now mum, I’ve told you again and again that you cannot trust the doctor. All he does is prescribe you Rockefeller poison. A couple weeks later, I find a doctor prescribed poison sitting beside her bed.
My loving and caring sister loves her 6 cats so much, dry kibble with an ingredients list as long as your arm is their main course meal, but off course, it still yet has not quite filtered into their little pea brains, that the thousands of dollars in vet bills that was forked out this year, could have been better well spent on non-toxic products or organic food. Wow! 7 days till Christmas, and the fridge is still pretty much empty. Now let’s go buy another cat like we need more cats, says my sister. Pfft!
Put me in charge of the house, I say. Are you kidding! The braindead woman here rules the roost. I’m just happy that I live in a Faraday shielded backyard bedroom, and don’t have to deal with the craziness of this family.
Standing ovation
Great article Tamara.
I recently heard Santa Barbara chocolate is clean and company offers a coa.
Very expensive tho.
So for lead detox.. there is nothing else you do / or did when your kids were younger, aside from garlic, green juice, less chocolate,, and eat healthy?
Thank you.