For those new to the Lead Safe Mama 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 four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).
- Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
- Since 2009, Tamara has been conducting XRF testing (a scientific testing method) using the exact instrumentation employed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to test consumer goods for toxicants (specifically heavy metals — including Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Antimony, and Arsenic).
- Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for 5 product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
- All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
- Items that Lead Safe Mama, LLC reports on are tested multiple times to confirm the results published (for each component tested).
- Recent notable press… There has been too much to mention already in 2024! Please check out our press page to see some of the amazing coverage of our work so far this year!
December 15, 2022 — Thursday
Here’s the link to my original article about Lead & Cadmium in Chocolate (from 2013).
I just created the graphic above and shared the following post on social media (see below). Stand by for more on this shortly. Thanks for reading!
Please continue reading below the image.
PLEASE REALIZE that the fundamental flaw with this summary starts with that assumption of being okay with acceptable limits set by our federal (or state) agencies for any food product. THERE IS NO SAFE LEVEL OF LEAD EXPOSURE. THERE IS NO SAFE LEVEL OF CADMIUM EXPOSURE. Lead causes brain damage, heart disease, arthritis, reproductive disorders, infertility, and more (it’s a long list). Cadmium causes cancer. Absent stricter manufacturing standards for processed foods, we need to LIMIT our consumption of processed foods and especially chocolate, which is the most (Lead) contaminated food. This is discussed in the closing scene of my documentary film (pinned in my instagram highlights or available on LeadSafeMama.com through typing “my film” into the search bar) — in a scene I filmed — interviewing scientists about the subject in 2012.
The frustrating bit here is that we cannot seem to keep this issue in the forefront of public consciousness. The news cycle is too saturated and people forget about this very real concern very quickly once something else grabs their attention. NO SAFE LEVEL means NO SAFE LEVEL. Even the “safer choices” Consumer Reports suggest have too much Lead, and too much Cadmium. Ways to limit your consumption of Lead and Cadmium (tips and guidance) are in my Chocolate article — written almost 10 years ago now — linked on my Facebook, in my Instagram highlights and stories, and on the home page of LeadSafeMama.com today. #LeadSafeMama #ToxicChocolate We need this type of information NOT to live in fear, but to be able to make safer choices for our families.
So depressing that even the organic brands are bad 🙁
So what is a good one to eat?
Santa Barbara chocolate.
:'(
What chocolate is safe?
While this is shocking and good to know, I’d love to see which are tested and LOW in Cadmium and Lead. I feel like there’s no safe choice
What frustrates me is that dark chocolates are featured here, but nothing is said about milk chocolate. As silly as that seems, the first thing my husband said when he read the article was “milk chocolate for the win!” And my reaction was “no…not milk chocolate for the win-that sucks too!” People seriously don’t know, and nothing is said anywhere about the concerns alive in other candies and milk chocolates too!
Exactly – milk chocolate still has toxicants, it’s just an equation of the dark chocolate used (whatever levels it has) diluted by the milk and sugar (ingredients which have generally significantly less Lead and Cadmium than dark chocolate.)
T
Why do they put in lead in the first place? Sad.
Uh, they don’t PUT lead in it! It comes from the soil.
Please do a complete post on safe or safer ways to eat chocolate. Are any brands tested safe? If so, which ones? Thanks for your work!
This is depressing. Have you tested the eating evolved brand? Thanks
Thank you so much for your heard work and getting all this information out there! I would kindly appreciate for each of these articles the safe list to go with them, similar to the Dirty Dozen/Clean 15. Thank you again!
Unfortunately there are no clean chocolates. Working on a follow up piece, but it will not include a list of brands to buy.
Are you totally chocolate free in your house?
This was my exact question. If you read her original post on chocolate she has a list of suggestions, including sticking to smaller companies, organic (though that’s no guarantee of safety), being especially careful of chocolates produced in countries where safety standards may be lower (lots of detail on why, in the article), and probably the strongest suggestion she follows: to buy your own cacao powder and making your own chocolate goodies. It’s a good article, worth reading.
Montezuma unsweetened dark has tested lower than other brands
Have you tested or are you aware of whether Justin’s chocolate has been tested?
THANK YOU so very much for your research and excellent work!!
I read in a reply earlier that it’s best to buy your own and make your own chocolate items. I wonder about cacao powders? For example, the one at Costco that says organic and fair trade