#cacao

[morethansalad]

Chocolate Mug Cake (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar-Free)

[lesbianchemicalplant]

Research has found that some dark chocolate bars contain cadmium and lead—two heavy metals linked to a host of health problems in children and adults.

The chocolate industry has been grappling with ways to lower those levels. To see how much of a risk these favorite treats pose, Consumer Reports scientists recently measured the amount of heavy metals in 28 dark chocolate bars. They detected cadmium and lead in all of them.

CR tested a mix of brands, including smaller ones, such as Alter Eco and Mast, and more familiar ones, like Dove and Ghirardelli.

For 23 of the bars, eating just an ounce a day would put an adult over a level that public health authorities and CR’s experts say may be harmful for at least one of those heavy metals. Five of the bars were above those levels for both cadmium and lead.

That’s risky stuff: Consistent, long-term exposure to even small amounts of heavy metals can lead to a variety of health problems. The danger is greatest for pregnant people and young children because the metals can cause developmental problems, affect brain development, and lead to lower IQ, says Tunde Akinleye, the CR food safety researcher who led this testing project.

“But there are risks for people of any age,” he says. Frequent exposure to lead in adults, for example, can lead to nervous system problems, hypertension, immune system suppression, kidney damage, and reproductive issues. While most people don’t eat chocolate every day, 15 percent do, according to the market research firm Mintel. Even if you aren’t a frequent consumer of chocolate, lead and cadmium can still be a concern. It can be found in many other foods—such as sweet potatoes, spinach, and carrots—and small amounts from multiple sources can add up to dangerous levels. That’s why it’s important to limit exposure when you can.

[...]

Some of the same concerns may extend to products made with cocoa powder—which is essentially pure cocoa solids—such as hot cocoa, and brownie and cake mixes, though they have varying amounts of cacao and possibly heavy metals.

(15 December 2022)

there’s a lot more detail in the article about specific brands, different ways lead and cadmium get into cacao, prior studies and litigation, etc.

the article is written with an optimistic tone about mitigation strategies for you as A Consumer—try to choose brands with lower levels of lead and cadmium! eat lower-percent-cacao chocolates, eat them less often, don’t give dark chocolate to kids, etc.—but it’s ultimately another example of food produced under capitalism being contaminated, and how you cannot escape that by just Shopping Smarter, or by hoping liberal regulation (or lawsuits) will prevent it. especially considering all of the other contaminated products mentioned or linked in the article as See Also’s:

MORE ON FOOD SAFETY

• Your Spices Could Contain Lead and Arsenic • Is Our Ground Meat Safe to Eat? • Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Costco Chicken • Heavy Metals in Baby Food • PFAS Chemicals in Food Packaging

Calculating the exact amount of dark chocolate that’s risky to eat is complicated. That’s because heavy metal levels can vary, people have different risk levels, and chocolate is just one potential source of heavy metal exposure. 

the unstated corollary (because this is Consumer Reports and not Labor Reports) is that the overall exposure to lead and cadmium surely has to be many times worse for the people who actually work in production (often child slaves [1] [2] [3]). (I did a cursory search for information about the farmers’ exposure, but unfortunately, haven’t been able to find anything among all the results about contamination in the final product? If anyone has sources about that, I would really appreciate seeing them)

[fullcravings]

Espresso Cacao Brioche Babka with Rose

[10thingsihateabout-all-yall]

Whenever dialects affect how an international company packages the same product, I find it fascinating. Please reblog and tag what country you're from!

[eggdoodles]

Sorry for being AFK-

Here's some crusher corps art 🤲

I'm definitely going to make more LOL all of them are now my ocs and I will terrorise my blog with HCs for them

[huariqueje]

Unknown , Breakfast , Cola Cao - Joseba Sánchez Zabaleta , 2022.

Spanish, b. 1970 -

Oil on panel , 22 x 18 cm.

[sitaart]

The Botanical Bestiary is a project I had the honor of being the artist for. It's a bunch of leshy miscreants who will try to destroy you, or possibly be adopted into your party as family. It's a bit of a toss up

The Botanical Bestiary is for Pathfinder 2e and D&D 5e. It contains: 

65 leshy monsters

10 leshy heritages  You can find it on DriveThruRPG here

[cinnamonnangel]

Best Chocolate/Cacao Perfumes🍫

[greatgreenwelshadventures]

Preparing cacao with mugwort, blue lotus flower, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in celebration of the equinox which is 03:06 in the UK.

[morethansalad]

Double Chocolate Easter Banana Bread Cake (Vegan & Gluten-Free)

[stimmedhams]

source<3

[tropic-havens]

harvesting cacao pods

[oceanherbalist]

Just partnered with cacao laboratory and they have the most amazing ceremonial cacao. I especially love their herb infused cacao based on the elements. I'm actually super excited, especially since the owner is indigenous. I have a 10% off code: AERIELLES10 if you're interested.

Cacao Laboratory

[darthskinnius]

Cacao growing in my friend's backyard. The tree was planted 5 years ago and has survived a plethora of natural disasters including the devastating Hurricane Maria.

ca·ca·o /kəˈkou,kəˈkāō/

noun: cacao; plural noun: cacaos

seeds from a small tropical American evergreen tree, from which cocoa, cocoa butter, and chocolate are made.

the tree that bears cacao seeds, which are contained in large, oval pods that grow on the trunk. It is now cultivated mainly in West Africa.

mid 16th century: via Spanish from Nahuatl cacaua .

📍San Juan, Puerto Rico Canon R6 Mark II

[snkrbonbon]

Nike Air Force 1 '07 "Cacao Wow"

[merrindon]

Winter warming sketch with best sidekicks!!