Is There Lead in Chocolate?
Consumer Reports’ tests found it in every chocolate product checked. In 2022 it detected lead and cadmium in all 28 dark chocolate bars tested, and for 23 of them an ounce a day would put an adult over a level that public health authorities and its experts say may be harmful for at least one of the two metals. Five bars were over for both.
A 2023 follow-up covered 48 chocolate products. Every one had detectable lead and cadmium, and 16 were above Consumer Reports’ level of concern for at least one metal. Dark chocolate tended to be higher and milk chocolate lower, and none of the five milk chocolate bars tested was over its limit for either metal.
The FDA told Consumer Reports that experts around the world have found chocolate is a minor source of exposure to lead and cadmium internationally. For adults, the FDA says chronic lead exposure is associated with kidney dysfunction, hypertension and neurocognitive effects.
Sources checked September 15, 2026. Every point below links the page it came from.
The sources behind this answer
- Independent testConsumer Reports scientists measured heavy metals in 28 dark chocolate bars and detected cadmium and lead in all of them. Consumer Reports ↗
- Independent testFor 23 of those bars, Consumer Reports found an ounce a day would put an adult over a level that public health authorities and its experts say may be harmful for at least one of the metals, and five bars were above those levels for both. Consumer Reports ↗
- Independent testIn a 2023 follow-up, every one of 48 chocolate products Consumer Reports tested had detectable lead and cadmium, and 16 were above its level of concern for at least one of the metals. Consumer Reports ↗
- Independent testNone of the five milk chocolate bars in Consumer Reports’ 2023 tests was over its limit for lead or cadmium, and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar had the most lead, at 67 percent of the limit. Consumer Reports ↗
- Government sourceThe FDA told Consumer Reports that experts from around the world have found chocolate is a minor source of exposure to cadmium and lead internationally. Consumer Reports, quoting the FDA ↗
- Government sourceThe FDA says that for adults, chronic lead exposure is associated with kidney dysfunction, hypertension and neurocognitive effects. US FDA ↗
Sources checked September 15, 2026. A brand statement is the company’s own claim, which we report but have not verified. Our grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests.