Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Hershey looking to 'eradicate' lead, cadmium from chocolate: CFO

Hershey looking to 'eradicate' lead, cadmium from chocolate: CFO
The Hershey Company chocolate factory in downtown Hershey, Pennsylvania, US (Photo: iStock)

Hershey Co is looking to reduce "trace" amounts of lead and cadmium in its chocolate, chief financial officer Steve Voskiul told Reuters on Wednesday, after Consumer Reports found that some dark chocolate bars had potentially harmful levels of the heavy metals.

Consumer Reports, a nonprofit consumer group, tested chocolate bars including those made by Hershey late last year and found that some of them contained possibly harmful levels of lead, cadmium or both for people who eat more than one ounce per day.


The trace amounts of the metals found in some chocolate are "below any recommended level, any standard," Voskuil said, adding that lead and cadmium are elements in soil and can naturally occur in the product.

"Depending on where you source, you may get relatively more lead or cadium in West Africa versus South America, but in both cases it’s a naturally occurring ingredient," Voskuil said.

"We would love to eradicate it completely and continue to look for opportunities in the process, is there more we can do there," he said on the sidelines of the Reese's makers' investor day.

Consumer Reports found that Hershey's Lily's extremely dark chocolate 85% cocoa bar was high in lead and cadmium. Its Hershey's Special Dark mildly sweet chocolate and Lily's extra dark chocolate 70% were also high in lead according to the report.

Voskuil said the manufacturing and cleaning process for cocoa beans removes the "vast majority" of lead and cadmium.

Hershey is "evaluating" if it can remove more of the metals through additional cleaning of cocoa beans or alternate sourcing, he said.

"Despite the cleaning process we’re also always looking, are there other things we can do to reduce it even lower," Voskuil said.

Hershey faces multiple lawsuits from consumers who claim the chocolate maker should have disclosed the levels of heavy metals, and that they would have paid less for or not bought the products had they known.

More for you

UK economy unexpectedly shrinks in January

A file photo of Buns and Buns restaurant in Covent Garden Market, London. Sectors like accommodation and food services are expected to be hit hard by higher living wage and employer national insurance contributions in April.

Photo: iStock

UK economy unexpectedly shrinks in January in blow to government

Britain's economy unexpectedly shrank in January, official data showed Friday, piling more pressure on the Labour government ahead of its Spring Statement on the economy.

Gross domestic product contracted 0.1 per cent in the month after GDP rose 0.4 per cent in December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump threatens tariffs on European wine and spirits in response to a European Union plan to impose tariffs on American whiskey

Barrels of bourbon are stacked in a barrel house at the Jim Beam Distillery on February 17, 2020 in Clermont, Kentucky.

Photo by Bryan Woolston/Getty Images

Trump threatens 200 per cent tariff on European alcohol

US president Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to slap a 200 per cent tariff on wine, cognac and other alcohol imports from Europe, opening a new front in a global trade war that has roiled financial markets and raised recession fears.

Stocks fell on the news, as investors worried that Trump would enact stiffer trade barriers around the world's largest consumer market. The S&P 500 finished the day more than 10 per cent below its record high reached last month, confirming the benchmark index for US stocks is in a correction.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gloucestershire Trading Standards underage test purchase operation

Products containing corrosive substances sold to minors by Gloucestershire shops

Photo: Gloucestershire County Council

Eight out of 10 Gloucestershire shops found selling corrosives to minors

An undercover operation by Gloucestershire Trading Standards has found most shops in the county selling products containing corrosive substances to underage buyers.

In total, 10 stores were visited and eight made sales to underage volunteers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Paul Bacon appointed as NewstrAid Operations Manager replacing Tom Rodger

Paul Bacon joins NewstrAid as Operations Manager

NewstrAid appoints Paul Bacon as new Operations Manager

Industry charity, NewstrAid, has announced the appointment of Paul Bacon to the role of Operations Manager.

Paul will join the NewstrAid team from 17 March and will take over from Tom Rodger, who is retiring at the end of the month.

Keep ReadingShow less
 ATM machine
Brits pull out nearly £80bn from LINK ATMs in 2024
Photo: iStock

Uneven transition: Where cash still clings on in Britain

The UK’s transition away from cash continues to accelerate, nearly five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report released today by LINK, the UK's cash access and ATM network.

While the trend towards a low-cash society is clear, the pace of this shift varies significantly across the country, indicating a complex and evolving payment landscape.

Keep ReadingShow less