American grocery chain Trader Joe’s is accused of misleading and endangering customers in a lawsuit that claims the store is selling dark chocolate that contains harmful levels of lead and cadmium. A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the grocery chain, alleging that it misled and endangered consumers’ health by failing to disclose on the packaging that certain dark chocolate products contain harmful metals.
Hershey Co (HSY.N) was sued by a consumer who accused the company of selling dark chocolate laced with lead and cadmium.
The suit was filed by Tamakia Herd in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday. It comes one week after a similar class-action lawsuit against The Hershey Company was filed in the same court. The plaintiff in the second suit, Thomas Ferrante, filed his case in Brooklyn earlier this week.
Both lawsuits stem from a Consumer Reports report from December 2022, in which scientists measured the number of heavy metals in 28 different chocolate bars. Cadmium and lead were found in each of them. According to Consumer Reports, 23 of those bars contained potentially harmful levels of heavy metals for adults who consume one ounce per day.
According to Consumer Reports’ testing, Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate 72% Cacao product contained high levels of lead, and The Dark Chocolate Lover’s Chocolate 85% Cacao product contained high levels of lead and cadmium.
Cadmium is a naturally occurring element found in soil that is sometimes absorbed by plant roots and ends up in cocoa beans. Lead contaminates the beans through the environment, possibly through the wind as the beans dry in the open.
Ferrante and Herd have sought at least $5 million in damages, including “at least $500 per transaction under New York law.” These claims are similar to the suit filed last week against Hershey’s by Nassau County resident Christopher Lazazzaro, who has stated that excess metal levels turn off reasonable consumers as they pose a ‘serious health risk’.
The National Confectioners Association (NCA) also cited a 2018 settlement reached with an advocacy group, As You Sow, that established concentration levels for both lead and cadmium that exceed California’s maximum allowable dose levels.
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