Hershey facing lawsuit over alleged lead and cadmium content in dark chocolate

The Hershey Company has been accused of selling dark chocolates with metal content. It was claimed that the product has lead and cadmium, so the chocolate maker has been sued for this.

As per Fox Business, a resident of New York, Christopher Lazazzaro, said he would have never bought Hershey's dark chocolate if he had known about its metal content. On Thursday, it was reported Lazazzaro filed a class action lawsuit against the said chocolate brand at a federal court in Central Islip, New York.

The plaintiff claimed in the suit that if he had known through disclosure from the company that Hershey’s Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate, Lily’s Extreme Dark Chocolate 85%, and Lily’s Extra Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa have metals in them, there is no chance he would buy any of them.

The said three chocolate bars were recently found to have high lead content and Lily’s 85% bar even has cadmium as well. For the discovery, Lazazzaro is pursuing at least $5 million in damages, including around $500 per transaction, which is said to be allowed under the law in New York.

The lawsuit was filed just two weeks after an investigation revealed that dark chocolate bars made by 28 different companies have some levels of lead or cadmium. Consumer Reports listed the name of popular chocolate brands, including Hershey, Dove, Lindt, Godiva, Ghirardelli, and Trader’s Joe.

All of the dark chocolate bars from the said brands were found to have heavy metals, and test results showed that 23 of them have harmful levels of cadmium, lead, or both. The level of lead content is up to two-and-a-half times higher, while cadmium levels are up to three times higher.

“But there are risks for people of any age and frequent exposure to lead in adults, for example, can lead to nervous system problems, hypertension, immune system suppression, kidney damage, and reproductive issues,” Tunde Akinleye, the food safety researcher at Consumer Reports who also led the testing, said in a statement.

He added, “While most people do not eat chocolate every day, 15% do, according to the market research firm Mintel. Even if you are not a frequent consumer of chocolate, lead and cadmium can still be a concern as small amounts from multiple sources can add up to dangerous levels, that is why it is important to limit exposure when you can.”