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(disclaimer: I make bean-to-bar chocolate) As background, food often concentrates whatever is in the soil, and cacao perhaps more so. The shell around the caca
by chris_va 3y ago
(disclaimer: I make bean-to-bar chocolate)
As background, food often concentrates whatever is in the soil, and cacao perhaps more so. The shell around the cacao bean is a big filter, and tends to accumulate stuff. This concentration isn't specific to cacao, e.g. see rice and arsenic, etc etc.
Volcanic soil naturally has a lot of cadmium, for example, so you end up with it in the final product for cacao from some regions. The growing areas more popular with large manufacturers (i.e. cheaper cacao) just so happens to be areas with high cadmium levels, so there is a a bit of a correlation between cadmium levels and the size of the operation.
I've been told that pretty much all larger chocolate organizations do test each batch for cadmium, lead, etc. The smaller ones are usually sourcing cacao from higher quality distributors, and those distributors also test everything (and also do transparency reports on labor, handling, and such).
Fundamentally, the guidance on what is an acceptable level is not clear, though I cannot speak for the decision making at the companies listed in the article. CA's particular threshold considered low, and you can get equal amounts of Cd/Pb from a lot of other food sources (generally people don't eat multiple chocolate bars per day, but they might have a cup of rice and get a similar amount of cadmium). Maybe that's also a problem.
Lead though, really should not be in there. It's not from the soil, and it's mostly in the shell, which should be removed in processing.
- crazygringo 3y agoThank you -- that's very helpful context!
- tomcam 3y agoGreat post. I’m dying to know what company you have/work for? Theo by any chance? AFAIK bean to bar is highly unusual, done by only a dozen or so companies. You appear to be living the dream!
- chris_va 3y agohttps://spinnakerchocolate.com/ https://spinnakerchocolate.com/
- tomcam 3y agoWhy yes, I'm brimming with envy. Very cool!
- schoen 3y agoI was told a few years ago that bean-to-bar was done by very few companies. But I've since heard that it's had kind of an explosion that somewhat parallels the popularity of beer microbreweries, with a huge boom in sales of chocolate-making equipment.
- navels 3y agoBased on the turnout at the Northwest Chocolate Festival last month, I can confirm it has exploded :-)
- Panoramix 3y agoI put about a tablespoon of cacao nibs in my breakfast cereal every morning. They are tasty and high in fiber. I guess I have to do some calculations on cadmium exposure.
- foobiekr 3y agoI thought the lead was from beans left outdoors to ferment near machinery / vehicles / industrial sites with lead in the emissions.
- chris_va 3y agoYes (usually drying, less so fermenting), which varies a lot country to country. Still, mostly it should end up in the shell that is removed.
- MichaelZuo 3y ago> (and also do transparency reports on labor, handling, and such). Where would one find these reports?
- chris_va 3y agoAn example: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ab9229aa9e0287fbf927602/t/64dd2a5307589112cecb177c/1692215910291/Uncommon+Cacao+Transparency+Report+2022+FINAL-compressed.pdf https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ab9229aa9e0287fbf927...
- MichaelZuo 3y agoDo you know if there's a repository for them? If someone wants to know, for example, about the sourcing of a chocolate bar they just bought?
- chris_va 3y agoNot to my knowledge :/
- MichaelZuo 3y agoAh I was afraid of that. As far as I can tell, zero consumer chocolate products can be guaranteed to be made from just 'Uncommon Cacao' product, and not intermingled with other less transparent intermediaries, so it's of little interest to the end consumer.
- chris_va 3y agoMost tiny makers do single origin from distributors like Uncommon, but you'd have to ask. Most chocolate you see in a store, though, yes :(
- lippihom 3y agoI'm just always blown away by the niche expertise you find on here! Thanks for the info.